Wrong Way
by Nuwanda
Summary: Freddy’s after school job no longer pays for his drugs. When he resorts to other methods of earning the cash, he begins to lose all control of his life as he follows a downward spiral of sex, money and substance abuse. Is there anyone who can save him
1. Default Chapter

**A/N:**  Okay, I hope you all like this, because it's seriously fucked up and I know that.  Okay.  Now that that's all out in the open, I really have no more to say about this.  I was listening to "Wrong Way" by Sublime and the idea for this fic came to me.  So enjoy.  ^______^   This is my first sex scene I've ever written fully and it's not too detailed, but I hope it's okay.  I repeat, it's my first sex scene, so please, go easy on me, okay?  Thanks.

**Summary:**  Freddy's after school job no longer pays for his drugs.  When he resorts to other methods of earning the cash, he begins to lose all control of his life as he follows a downward spiral of sex, money and substance abuse.  Is there anyone who can save him?  Slash.

**Paring:**  None now, but eventually this'll be Freddy/Zack.

**Disclaimer:  **I own none of the following:  Freddy, Zack, School of Rock, Sublime, "Wrong Way" (the song).

**Claimer**:  I own all of the following:  Freddy's house, his trash can, his purple belly shirt and skin tight jeans, his fantasies and any and all money he makes with this other method of cash earning.

**WARNING**:  Not all of the Sublime lyrics fit…most obviously because it's about a girl and it mentions tits and the like, but the line "don't be afraid with a quickness you get laid" is what really got me thinking about Freddy.  So yeah.  Deal with it.

~*~

Annie's 12 years old in two more she'll be a whore   
Nobody ever told her it's the wrong way   
Don't be afraid with the quickness you get laid   
for your family gets paid   
It's the wrong way I gave her all that I had to give   
I'm gonna make it hard to live   
Big salty tears running down her chin   
And it ruins up her make up   
A cigarette pressed between her lips

But I'm staring at her tits   
It's the wrong way   
Strong if I can but I am only a man   
So I take her to the can   
The only family she ever had   
Was her 7 horny brothers and her drunk-ass dad   
He needed money so he put her on the street

Everything was going fine till the day that she met me   
Happy are you sad, wanna shoot your dad   
I'll do anything i can it's the wrong way   
We talked all night and tried to make it right   
Believe me shit was tight   
It was the wrong way   
So run away if you don't wanna stay   
Cause I ain't here to make you   
It's up to you what you really wanna do   
Spend some time in America   
Dub style so we ran away   
And I'm sorry when I say that to this very day   
It was the wrong way   
She took a hike it don't matter it I like it or not   
Cause she only wants the wrong way

I gave her all that I had to give  
But she still wouldn't take it, oh no.  
Her two brown eyes are leaking like a sieve,  
And it still ruins her makeup  
I never wanted

~Wrong Way by Sublime

Freddy took a long drag on his cigarette, staring pensively off into nothing.  The sky was absolutely full of gleaming stars.  Their brightness burned Freddy's eyes, taunting him with a brilliance he believed he would never know.  His eyes slowly slid away from the stars, gliding over the trees in front of him and down towards the much uglier vision of the street near him.  It was near two in the morning and he hadn't seen a car in half an hour.  Pretty soon he would have to turn in.

            He thought wrong.  A car turned down the road and immediately began to slow.  A man in his mid thirties sat inside the car, obviously giving Freddy the old once-over.  Freddy let his breath out, exhaling smoke coolly as he stared at the car, unfazed.  Dropping the cigarette to the sidewalk, he ground the butt out under his heel and ran a hand through his stylishly-messy blonde hair before sauntering over to where the car was now parked, one hand tugging briefly at the seat of his skin-tight jeans.  The man lowered the passenger side window immediately and Freddy leaned over, arms folded across the open window.  "Hey, baby," Freddy said, voice low and sultry.  

            "Hey there," the man said, smiling.  He allowed his eyes to trace over as much of Freddy's body as he could see.  He took in Freddy's thin yet muscular arms and the way his pale purple shirt fit him like a glove, accentuating his finely toned body.  The shirt cut off mid chest, exposing a fit tanned tummy sporting a gold belly-button ring.  He liked what he saw, and the smile grew.  He met Freddy's gaze again.  "How much?"

            Freddy paused as if thinking about it.  "How long you want?" he asked.

            "….let's say…an hour and a half?" the man responded.

            "Okay then….a hundred-fifty."

            The man nodded.  "Fine….jump in."  He reached over and unlocked the passenger side door and Freddy pulled it open, sliding into the car with ease and pulling the door shut behind him.

            Moments later, the man pulled into an abandoned state park.  He parked the car in a grove of fully blooming trees, a spot where the singular car wouldn't easily be seen.  The man undid his seatbelt and Freddy followed suit.  There was a pause.  Freddy glanced up at the man from underneath long lashes, smiling coyly.

            "Well," he said, leaning towards the man, "Only an hour and a half, huh?  Well then," He climbed over the stick shift and into the man's lap.  "I guess we'd better get started then…"  He straddled the man's hips, hands sliding up around the older man's neck.  "...don't you agree?"

            The man smirked.  "I should say so."  He wrapped his hands around Freddy's waist, pulling him closer.  With their faces less than an inch apart, the man whispered "what do you do?"

            There was a pause, and Freddy ran his hand through the man's hair.  "…._everything_." 

            The man had only the briefest of seconds to smile before Freddy leaned forward and pressed their lips firmly together.  The man slid his hands underneath Freddy's shirt and tugged it up, wanting more even as their tongues danced together and Freddy stroked his chest suggestively.  Pulling back, Freddy complied, pulling the shirt up and off, revealing a nicer body than the man had imagined.  He greedily ran his hands down the now exposed skin, leaning forward to press kisses to Freddy's chest.  Freddy let his head fall to one side, eyes sliding shut as he let out a sigh of pleasure.  Inwardly, however, he was swallowing down his disgust.  

            "Here," the man whispered against Freddy's bare skin, "why don't we move to the back seat?  Lots more room to….get acquainted."

            Forcing a smile, Freddy complied.  The seat reclined, it turned out, and soon he was lying flat on his back as the man crouched above him, rough hands running over Freddy's youthful body.  He was able to block out most things, until….

            With a low ripping sort of sound, he felt the man undo the zipper on his tight jeans.

            "How the fuck d'you get these things off?" the man muttered through his laughter.  "D'you have to grease your legs?"

            "Not quite," Freddy answered, silently hating the man.  Laughing, the older man hooked his fingertips under the waist of Freddy's jeans and slowly peeled them down and off, letting out a noise of utmost satisfaction when he noted that Freddy wasn't wearing any underwear.  _Well, how the fuck could I?  _Freddy thought.  _Anything else wouldn't fit into those fucking pants.  _

            It had been hard when he first started, to get himself anywhere close to being aroused.  The men didn't generally care.  They wanted nothing more than their own pleasure, and when they had taken that, they were done with him.  But his mentor, the boy who got him started doing this, had advised him to find a way to get himself hard.

            "Some men, yeah, some don't care," he said, when Freddy had protested that it hadn't stopped any of them from fucking him so far.  "I guess a lot of them don't.  But it's a blow to their fucking egos, ya know?  Better to get yourself off somehow.  Then they think it's them and they'll enjoy themselves more….sometimes they'll even give you a bonus…ya know what I'm sayin?"

            Freddy knew exactly what the boy had been saying.  A better fuck meant more money, and more money meant more drugs.  That settled the matter then and there.  "But how do I-" he began, and flushed.  He still wasn't used to this whole sex thing.  His first time had been with a man he didn't know…not exactly how he wanted his first time to be, but hey, if it was the price he had to pay for a high, so be it.  Still, he couldn't quite bring himself to discuss sex outright.

            The boy took a long drag of his cigarette.  "You've jerked off before, haven't ya?"  Freddy flushed, looking away, and the boy laughed, knowing that was the only answer he would get.  Still, it was answer enough.  "Yeah, so ya know all about fantasies.  That's all it takes.  Fantasize.  Come up with something so hot that you can't help but get it up.  Think of someone else who you'd rather be fucking…pretend you're with that person.  Works like a charm."  The boy had thrown his cigarette to the ground, stomping it out with one foot, and it was then that Freddy caught the bitter look on his face.  It was then that Freddy realized that this boy liked it no better than he did.  It was, however, a way of life.  It was what had to be done if the drugs were to be bought.  And to obtain the short escape from his life that only drugs could bring…for that Freddy was willing to sacrifice almost anything.  Including his dignity.

            Freddy succumbed once again to the old fantasy…the first fantasy.  Dark brown hair falling into eyes of chocolate.  A smile so pure and innocent that it broke his heart.  A smile just for him, only for him.  He pretended that the hands on his body belonged to that smile, to those chocolate eyes.  And it worked like a charm.  

            The man made another appreciative noise as he eyed Freddy's erection.  He ran his thumb down the hard shaft and Freddy let out a little gasp.  In the pit of his stomach he felt disgust, but he pushed it aside, visualizing the other in front of him.

            "Roll over," the man commanded, and Freddy complied.  He knelt on the smooth leather of the seat, propping himself up on his elbows.  He clenched his eyes shut tight as he heard the sound of a zipper being undone, trying to shut the sound out of his head, trying to shut out everything around him and concentrate on, as clichéd as it sounded, his "Happy Place."  He could feel the man behind him, positioning himself, and Freddy took a deep breath, steeling himself up for what he knew was about to come.  The man's hands were on his hips and then he stifled a gasp as the man thrust into him, roughly and without warning.  He bit his lip hard to hold back any further sound, but couldn't hold back a groan as the man reached beneath him and began jerking him off in time with the thrusts.  He forced nice images before his eyes…images of dark hair and chocolate eyes and soft hands, hands that would caress him and a body that would do the same things to him, only nicer and softer and much much gentler.

            The man began thrusting harder as he reached his climax, but Freddy barely even noticed.  He imaged the other in front of him, kissing him and stroking him and- dare he wish for it- _loving_ him, and he lost himself entirely to his fantasies and the feeling of utter bliss of the man's hands on him, stroking him to a climax.  He bit his lip hard as he came, biting back the cry that struggled to escape his lips, the name that tried to fight it's way free.  The man climaxed a second after him and let out a long sigh, flopping to his back on the seat next to Freddy.  Freddy collapsed to his stomach, head resting on his folded arms.  The face of his fantasy smiled gently, one hand reaching out to stroke his cheek before the vision faded and Freddy was brought back to harsh reality to see that the hand on his cheek belonged to the cursed older man.

            "Get yourself dressed," the man said.  "I'll drop you off where I got you."

            _Where I _got _you?  Sounds like I'm a fucking item on a grocery list, _Freddy thought ruefully.  But he did as he was told.

            About twenty minutes later, they were back where they'd begun: parked on the side of Main Street.  Freddy looked expectantly at the man, who smiled and pulled out his wallet.

            "It's been fun," he said, handing over a wad of bills.  Freddy leafed through them quickly and noticed that there was an extra fifty tossed in.  _Two hundred, _he thought, shocked.  _Score!  _He smiled back, flirtatious once again.

            "Sure has," he responded, sliding out of the car.  He leaned in the man's open car window and kissed him, long and lingering.  As he pulled away, Freddy sucked languidly on the man's lower lip.  Pulling back, he smiled at the man once more.  "I'm on this street most nights," he said, "so if you're ever looking for another go…you know where to find me."

            "Sure do," the man said, smiling back.  Freddy stuck the money in the back pocket of his jeans and, tossing one last smile to the man, turned and sauntered off, shaking his hips forcefully from side to side, knowing the man must be practically drooling.  He heard the sounds of the car pulling away just as he reached to door of his house.  He turned the handle and let out a long stream of curses.  _Fucking thing's locked._  Sighing, Freddy walked to the side of the house and began the laborious work of climbing up to his window, assisted by a none-too-steady trash can.  He slid into his room and managed to trip over a pile of books on the floor and nearly fall on his face.  Sighing, Freddy straightened up and walked the rest of the way across the room, fishing the money out of his back pocket before flopping onto his back on the bed.  He would like to shower, to wash the sweat and cum of the other man off of his body, but it's too late- or should he say early- for that.  Instead he stared at his two hundred dollars, but his happiness faded fast.  He cast the money aside, shutting his eyes tight against the burning hotness of tears as he thought of all that had passed and of the face he had envisioned, the face that only came to him now in his dreams, never in reality.  Of the name that he had bitten so hard on his lip to keep from spilling forth.

            "Zack."  He whispered the name to the silent night, a balmy night outside but frigid cold to him, devoid of any warmth he wanted.  Rolling over to his stomach, Freddy tried to fall asleep to no avail as he attempted with all his might to focus on his aching body and ignore the aching of his broken heart.


	2. Promise Me

**A/N:**  Okay, here we go, second chapter of Wrong Way.  I'm glad you all seem to be liking it!  I was worried that it would be too perverted and/or fucked up and that everyone would hate it.  Don't worry; this chappie is a lot cuter and funnier.

**Dedication:**  Meg.  Because you were sad when you missed out on the last dedication.  But don't worry…I still love you!  No one has replaced you!  *huggles and smooches for Meg*  Be HAPPY!  ^.~

**Disclaimer:**  I do not own anything from School of Rock, not the characters, music, plotline, etc.  I do not own "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" or any part of it, especially not the quote I used.  I do not own Freddy's shirt, because I got the logo from a shirt at Hot Topic.  I do, however, own the drum logo on it which I used in place of the guitar logo which was there.

**Claimer:**  I do own Mr. Peterson (who is tres cool), Freddy's still consistently cool outfits, and, once again, his t-bird.  

**IMPORTANT:  **Freddy and Zack are NOT DATING.  They get teased as if they are, but they're not….it's just that:  teasing.  Never fear, though, they SHALL be together eventually!  Just not now…but they're all flirty and stuff, so be content!

~*~

Freddy shot up in bad, gasping for breath.  His entire body was coated in a thin layer of sweat and he felt as though his lungs were caked in tar.  He clutched the sheets tightly as he waited for his breath to become steady again.  A few moments later, he was able to draw normal breaths and he sighed, much more content.  He glanced at the clock.  _Shit!  7:15?!  I am sooo late!  _He kicked his legs to the side, trying to stand up, but instead got tangled in his bed sheets and fell to the floor, hitting his head on his night stand and falling hard on his ass.  

            Freddy simply sat there for a moment, feeling wave upon wave of pain pass over him.  He felt very much like weeping.  He wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and cry himself to sleep…or to do some more heroin.  Speaking of which…he grabbed the $200 off of his nightstand and tossed it on the bed.  He would get some more heroin on his way home from school.  Opening his dresser drawer, Freddy pulled out the first shirt and pair of pants he found.  The pants were black, baggy, and at least two sizes to big around the waist.  He slid the $200 into his back pocket and patted it affectionately.  The shirt he pulled on was a black one that had a drum set and the words "Musician Looking for Groupies" etched across the front of it.  It still fit him like a second skin, but it was better than the belly shirt.  Pulling on a pair of flame-patterned converse, he grabbed his book bag and high tailed it out the door.  It took him no time at all to get his car going- a beat up black t-bird- and he was on his way to school.

~*~

            "So if a equals 145, then what does b equal?"  The teacher scanned the room looking for the answer, but the class was less than enthusiastic.  "Anyone.  Anyone?"

            _Bueller__?_Zack couldn't help but think, rather amused.  _Bueller__?__  Bueller?_

            "Summer?"

            Zack tuned Summer out, not caring what the answer was or how it was achieved.  He glanced yet again at the empty seat next to him.  _Where the hell could he be?_

            The door flew open and 24 pairs of eyes all fixed their attention on the blond boy standing in the doorway. Zack smiled, happy to see his best friend…who was, he noted, looking rather nice that day.  Freddy's pants were hanging loosely about his hips, so loose it looked as though they would fall off if given half a chance.  The shirt was nearly skin-tight, and clung to Freddy's toned chest in all the right places.  The entire class was staring and it wasn't just the girls who swooned.  Zack's smile grew as he noticed about half the boys staring at Freddy appreciatively, but the smile faded when he looked at Freddy's face closer.  The blond looked positively exhausted.  There were bags under his eyes, his hair was more tousled than usual, and his face looked…drawn.  As though he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in a while.

            "Sorry I'm late," Freddy said.  He adjusted his backpack, tugging it a bit higher on his shoulder.

            The teacher smiled.  "I'm sorry, too, Freddy; I like having you here.  I'll let it slide this time, okay?  But I'd like to see you after class."

            "Sure thing."  Freddy walked to the back of the room.  Either he was unaware that people were ogling his ass or he just didn't care.  He slid into his seat next to Zack and dropped his bag to the floor, half-heartedly pulling out pencils and a notebook.

            "Dude, you okay?" Zack asked.  Freddy slowly turned to face him, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion.  "Freddy, you look like hell, man!"

            "…warmed over," Freddy said.  "I look like hell warmed over.  And thank you for pointing it out," he added dryly.  

            "Sorry," Zack said.

            "You're my best friend.  You're supposed to tell me that I look ravishing."

            "Okay…you look ravishing."

            Freddy shot Zack a scathing look.  "Like you mean it."

            Zack grinned and opened his mouth to respond, but the teacher cleared his throat loudly. 

            "If the lovebirds in the back row would care to be quiet for the last two and a half minutes of class…?"

            The class broke into giggles and Freddy perked up a bit, tossing a smile to the teacher and scooting his desk closer to Zack.  "Sorry, Mr. Peterson," he said, a flamboyant air in his voice which wasn't normally there.  He leaned over, wrapping his arms tightly around Zack.  "Just can't keep my hands off him, you know how it is."

            The teacher laughed.  "Well, try to do so in my class, please."

            "Okay, I'll _try,_" Freddy said, running his fingers through Zack's shaggy hair.  "…but I can't guarantee it'll _work_."  He smiled at Zack, a sultry smile, and Zack blew him a kiss.  The class giggled around them and Mr. Peterson suppressed a smile, but with some difficulty.  The bell rang before he could speak another word of Algebra.  He sighed.

            "You two always manage to wreak havoc in my class…oh well, be gone with you!"  They were halfway out the door when he called "except you, Freddy…you come here."

            'I'll wait for you' Zack mouthed, and went into the hallway.  Freddy turned back to the now empty room.  Mr. Peterson beckoned to him. 

            "Come here, Freddy."  The blonde came a bit closer.  "Now…do you want to tell me what's going on?"

            "I don't know what you mean, sir."

            "Come on, Freddy, I treat you with respect, please show some to me.  I know that something is wrong.  You were always good about coming to class on time.  You never made…great grades…but you tried hard, and with the help of that Zack of yours you did just fine…but lately…" he sighed.  "Lately your grades have suffered.  You show up late to class, and even when you show up on time you still look positively exhausted.  Is there something going on?  A problem at home?"

            Freddy shook his head.  "No, sir.  Everything's fine."

            Mr. Peterson stared at Freddy, who stared back with his best poker face.  Finally, the older man sighed, unconvinced.  "All right," he said wearily.  "All right.  You can go."

            Just as Freddy was stepping out the door, he heard his name again.

            "Freddy," Mr. Peterson called.  Freddy paused and looked over his shoulder.  "If…if anything _is _wrong…I want you to know that you can come to me.  Always know that.  And you have Zack there, too.  Don't keep it all bottled up inside, okay?  It's not good for you.  Promise me you won't do that."

            There was only a fraction of a pause.  "I promise," Freddy said.

~*~

"So what was that all about, huh?"

"All what?" Freddy asked, pretending he didn't know what Zack was talking about.

"Mr. Peterson," Zack said. "You know what I'm talking about Freddy, don't pretend you don't."

Freddy kicked his locker and it sprang open.  He began rifling through his books.  "It's nothing, Zack, just stay out of it."

"It's not nothing, Freddy.  You look like shit.  You look like you got hit by five bikers, three cars, two pick-up trucks and a sixteen-wheeler."

"Gee, you're certainly _fantastic_ with the compliments this morning, Mooneyham," Freddy said sarcastically.

"Well, it's true, Freddy.  You look terrible and I want to know why."

"Step off, Zack."

"Talk to me, Freddy."

"I said step off, Zack!"  Freddy slammed his locker shut.

"Not until you tell me what the fuck's going on!"

"Step the FUCK off, Mooneyham!" Freddy turned to face Zack, eyes blazing.  Zack looked shocked at Freddy's words.  Feeling just the tiniest hint of remorse, Freddy turned away and began walking down the hall.  A moment later, Zack followed him, shoving other students out of the way.

"Geez, you don't got to be fucking _rude_, Freddy," he said quietly.

"Well you didn't leave it," Freddy replied, not looking at Zack.

"Look," Zack's hand shot out and he caught Freddy by the shoulder, halting the other boy in his tracks.  Freddy stared balefully at Zack.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to upset you.  But…you know…."  He looked around at all the kids filing back and forth past them to class.  The bell rang and all the kids bolted into various rooms.  They were alone in the hallway.  "You're my best friend, Freddy.  I'm just worried about you.  If anything happened to you…" he took a deep breath and made a helpless gesture, at a loss for words.  "…I don't know what I'd do!  I don't think I'd be able to function without you!  I need you around, man.  You keep me sane."

There was a pause.  "Don't kid yourself," Freddy said.  Zack looked at him, stricken; Freddy smiled.  "You were never sane." 

Zack smiled back.  "Well….you keep me as sane as I can be.  Seriously, Freddy.  If something is wrong…you know you can talk to me….don't you?"

Freddy nodded, eyes averted.  "…yes."

"Then promise me."  Zack's voice was fervent, his hands clutched Freddy's shoulders tightly.  "Promise me that if something happens, if anything goes wrong in your life, promise me that you'll tell me…that you'll talk to me if you need help...promise me."

Freddy hesitated a moment, then nodded.  "I promise."

It was the first time he had ever lied to Zack.

~tbc~


	3. A Mess

**A/N:** So yes, here's chapter three…duh. I know it's been a long time, but that was because of being so busy and then I had to take a long time to think about this. It's kinda similar to "Breaking the Habit" and I didn't want it to be the same, so I had to think about it a lot and come up with a way to make sure they're quite different. So I hope you all think they're different enough. And I'm sorry, I know Freddy having sex with scary older men is really creepy and gross, but think about it: I don't _WANT_ it to be hot…because prostitution isn't _SUPPOSED_ to be hot. So it should be gross. Not saying _PROSTITUTES_ are gross, I have no problem, if that's what you want to do with your life, feel free. Just saying I don't want Freddy doing drugs and getting paid for sex to be something sexy. That's all. I'd also like to apologize for my terrible drug dealer sequence…contrary to what seems to be popular belief (judging by a few notes I got), I do NOT do drugs. I never have and never will. Therefore, I'm not sure exactly what a drug dealer talks/acts like, and I'm afraid I wrote it a bit too contrived and too movie-based. I didn't want it to be clichéd from what I've seen in movies, but that's all I had to base my dealer on, so yes, that's what you get. Heehee, sorry.

**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own School of Rock, any actors, any music, anything. Don't own Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the quote I used, or Johnny Depp, GOD I wish I owned Johnny. Johnny Depp is THE SEX.

**CLAIMER:** I own Zack's snazzy goth/boho boy wardrobe, his poster, and Freddy's cellphone and pathetic excuse. Aaaaand…that's all for this chappie.

**DEDICATION: **pltzchen. Again. Cause I was rereading my reviews and remembering just how much she rocks my world. :D You always leave such amazing reviews. Tons of glompage for pltzchen!

**FICLET!**

"Hey, Freddy, wait up!"

Freddy tried to pretend he hadn't heard his name called and slammed his locker door shut, turning and walking as fast as he could down the hallway. Unfortunately luck wasn't on his side. Within seconds he felt a hand on his shoulder and Zack was tugging him to a stop.

"Freddy, didn't you hear me?"

"…no, I didn't," Freddy said, mentally kicking himself for not getting away. It's not that he didn't want to see Zack…he did. He wanted to see Zack more than anything. But Zack meant no drugs, and he needed drugs. So he was really caught in the middle of a dilemma: spend some much desired time with Zack or go off and get some much needed drugs. "Sorry, man."

Zack arched an eyebrow. "…you really didn't hear me?"

"NO! Zack, geez, man, you think I would leave you like that? That I'd hear you and not stick around?" Freddy felt guilty for lying, but even guiltier for wanting to leave Zack in the first place. Therefore, he was prepared to make up for it by spending time with Zack instead of buying drugs….he'd just have to find time for drugs later. And it wasn't as if it were a real chore to spend time with Zack anyway. Especially not when Zack was looking as good as he did that day…Freddy allowed his eyes a furtive sweep of Zack's body, from the black converse sneakers (one shoelace undone, as usual), the slightly formfitting black jeans and the skintight black shirt, long sleeves rolled up around his elbows. Zack's hair was much longer than it used to be and Freddy wondered how he hadn't noticed before. Long dark strands of hair hung into Zack's dark eyes and Freddy wanted to shove Zack up against the lockers and make out with him until they both passed out from lack of air. But…wait….Zack was saying something. Freddy shook his head; he had completely zoned out.

"No…of course not. Sorry, Freddy, I shouldn't have jumped to stupid conclusions like that." Zack smiled. "…can I make it up to you?" As he spoke, he tilted his head to one side, a strand of hair falling into his eyes and his lips curving in that sweet sexy smile. Immediately Freddy's mind filled once more with the mental image of Zack shoved up against the lockers and he forced it back quickly.

"Oh….I think we can come up with some way for you to do that," he said, voice sultry and teasing. Zack laughed.

"You have a one track mind, Jones, you know that?"

"Zack Mooneyham, you pervert! How dare you assume that I'm thinking sexual things!"

"You should just have the word 'sex' tattooed to your forehead, Freddy, everyone knows you're always thinking of it."

"Pffft," Freddy scoffed, "am not."

"Whatever," Zack said, grinning. "So…come home with me?"

"Why ZACKARY MOONEYHAM!" Freddy exclaimed, voice very scandalized. "Are you coming on to me?"

"In your dreams, Freddy." Zack laughed

"Pffft, whatever. I know you want my body."

"Freddy, more than half the kids in school want your body."

"…are you one of them?"

Zack laughed. "Come on, Freddy, let's get going."

Freddy noted (with some satisfaction) that Zack hadn't denied that he lusted after Freddy…though he hadn't exactly confirmed it either. He sighed. _Guess I still have to work on figuring that one out. _"Okay, but only if I get to choose the music for the ride home."

"Anything for you, sexy."

"You ARE coming on to me!"

"Whatever, Freddy."

"Do you deny it?"

"Freddy…" Zack sighed.

Without warning, Freddy grabbed hold of Zack, wrestling the brunette until he had Zack in a headlock. "Admit it!" He ordered. "Admit that you want me!"

"I plead the fifth," Zack managed to choke out, wide grin on his face.

"Admit it!"

"No!"

"Admit it!"

"NO!"

"ADMIT IT!"

"FINE!" Zack cried, still grinning. "Fine! I want you, I want you!" The last came in between giggles as Freddy poked mercilessly at Zack's waist, right where he knew the brunette was most ticklish.

"Pfff, I knew it all along." And Freddy let go of Zack, giving the brunette a slight shove away from him, and walked out into the parking lot. Zack joined him moments later, still trying to catch his breath from the tickling.

"That was really low, Freddy."

"Aahhh, you liked it."

"Whatever you say, Spazzy McGee."

"You know you've been gagging for it."

"Oh yes, Freddy, my every waking dream is for you to molest me in the hallway."

There was a pause. "I_ knew_ it," Freddy said, tone full of satisfaction. Zack sighed, shaking his head.

"Come on, Freddy, let's go."

"Your car or mine?"

"Okay, enough with the sexual overtones and innuendos already."

"There was nothing sexual intended, you dirty wanker, stop making everything out to be perverse!"

"ME?! YOU'RE the…oh, never mind, it's pointless to argue with you," Zack sighed. "And to answer you, your car. My car's broken; dad drove me in this morning."

"Oh, THAT must have been a jolly ride," Freddy said sarcastically, unlocking the car.

"You're telling me." Zack shut the car door with a little more force than he usually did. Silence fell and Freddy started the car, heading for Zack's house.

"He won't be home, will he?"

"No…he doesn't get home till about six…why?"

Freddy laughed, a bitter sound. "He hates me…I don't really relish the idea of being there when he gets home."

"Then you can leave before six," Zack said.  
"I guess."

"Are you going to back out on me, Freddy?"

"Huh?"

"…you don't want to come over…do you." It was a statement, not a question, and Freddy could hear the sadness and pain in Zack's voice.

"No, Zack…that's not it, that's not it at all."

"Really, Freddy, it's kinda obvious…and it's okay. You don't have to stay if you don't want."

There was a long pause. Freddy turned into Zack's driveway and parked the car. The two sat there for a moment, then Zack climbed out. "Thanks for the ride, Freddy…see you tomorrow."

Freddy got out as well, shutting the door. "I'm coming in, you crazy fuck."

Zack looked like he wanted to smile but was too nervous to. "Really? Are you sure? Because you don't need to come if you don't want to."

"Zack…I WANT TO. This may come as some surprise to you," Freddy continued, "though it shouldn't after so many years…but you're my best friend…and I'm happiest when I'm with you."

Zack smiled. "I'm glad," he said softly. "Because I don't know that I could deal without you." There was a pause. "So…coming in?"

* * *

"Whatcha thinking about?"

Freddy stared up at Zack's ceiling. "…nothing." _How much I wanna kiss you, _he thought. _How awkward this all is…how completely hot this is and how amazingly weird at the same time. _

"Not uncomfortable, are you?" Zack stared at the ceiling as well. Neither boy seemed willing to look at the other. Both were lying on Zack's bed. Zack's television was dead opposite his bed, so the ideal place to watch from was (duh) the bed. Freddy had tried to claim it first and Zack had refused, saying that Freddy had to share since it was his bed. What happened next was a battle that raged a good half the movie in which each boy threw punches and kicked any available surface. There was even a bit of biting, though that came only from Freddy. In the end, neither boy had fully won. For a while, Freddy had parked his ass in Zack's lap, but it hadn't lasted long. Zack had complained non-stop that Freddy weighed too much, that he was blocking the television, etc. Freddy teased him for "bitching" and moved. For a while, Zack was curled up against Freddy, head resting on Freddy's shoulder, one leg thrown over Freddy's, more to piss the blonde off than anything else. He didn't realize that Freddy liked it more than he could say. Now that the movie was over, each boy was flat on his back, staring at the ceiling, unwilling to look the other in the eye.

"…no," Freddy said. His gaze was fixed on the poster on the ceiling. It was of Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman kissing in front of the Moulin Rouge. He smiled. Zack was such a hopeless romantic. The poster was on the ceiling because Zack was Moulin Rouge obsessed and because Zack's dad refused to let him put anything on the walls. Since the man didn't often go in Zack's room, he hadn't yet noticed the poster on the ceiling.

"Good."

"…you?"

"No." A few silent moments passed.

"What are_ you_ thinking about?" Freddy asked.

"How this poster is the one cool thing in this room," Zack said. "Well…other than my guitar…and you, of course."

Freddy laughed. "It is rather nice," he agreed. "Especially Ewan McGregor. He's hot."

Zack's laughter was surprised and delighted. "Is he, now? I didn't know you swung to that side of the ballroom, Freddy."

"Then there are a great many things you don't know about me, Zack my friend."

"Apparently so."

"Apparently so."

Another pause.

"So…would you ever swing to that side of the ballroom, Zack?"

"Only for you, baby."

"I knew it." Pause. "…Zack?"

"Mmm?"

"Guess what I'm thinking about."

"Something perverse. OW!" The latter came as Freddy elbowed Zack in the ribs as hard as he could.

"You deserved it. I'm not as perverse as you make me out to be!"

"Yes you are."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Ohh, fine."

"Hahah, knew I'd win eventually."

"You didn't win. I just didn't feel like arguing anymore."

"Because you know it's true."

"Pfft, whatever."

"If it's not true, then prove it."

"Prove it?" Freddy turned to face Zack. "How?"

"See!" Zack was triumphant. "Can't do it, can you?"

"Well, if I'm so perverse, then how come I haven't made a pass at you since I've been here?"

"I don't know…" Zack stared into Freddy's eyes. "…why haven't you?"

Freddy felt his breath catch in his throat as he stared into Zack's eyes…and then, embarrassed at his rare show of bravado, Zack turned away and closed his eyes tight, silently cursing himself for making such a stupid comment. _Now he'll think I want him and he'll never talk to me again…nice going, Mooneyham! _

Staring at Zack, Freddy took a deep, shaky breath. Leaning forwards, he gently pressed his lips to the bare skin of Zack's throat. Shocked, Zack spun to face him and ended up cracking his head against Freddy's…hard. Both boys recoiled, eyes shut tight in pain. Before Zack could open his eyes, there was a rustling of fabric and he felt Freddy's breath warm against his throat.

"Don't move," Freddy whispered. "Please…just…please." Eyes still shut, Zack took a slow, shaking breath. And he felt Freddy's lips against his throat again. And even without any sort of encouragement, Freddy continued. He trailed kisses along Zack's throat, and the brunette let out a slow, shuddering breath. Slowly, he opened his eyes and turned ever so slightly to face Freddy. Freddy kissed his cheek, just off to one side of his mouth. Moving closer, the next kiss was right on the corner of Zack's lips, half on his mouth and half on his cheek. Trembling fingers pressed to Zack's chest, Freddy stared at Zack, an almost frightened look in his eyes. Zack stared back, positive that his face was almost a mirror of Freddy's own. Slowly, barely able to force himself to move, he placed shaking fingers over Freddy's own trembling hands, then moved his hands up, sliding over Freddy's arms and upwards until one hand was on either side of Freddy's face, shaking fingers gently pressed to Freddy's cheeks. That was all the invitation Freddy needed. Leaning down, Freddy slowly gently pressed his mouth against Zack's. And it was _perfect. _God damn it it was as perfect as he had always dreamed. Every single night of every fucking month all year that he had spent out on the street, every stranger he had let touch him and fuck him, none of it mattered anymore because now he was kissing Zack. And it was better than he had dreamed. It was nothing like the roughness of all of the men who used him. It was soft and gentle and beautiful, their mouths working together and fitting together so perfectly like the most beautiful puzzle and he was thinking in clichés and unable to stop. Fingers ran through long brown hair and it was softer than he had ever imagined. Zack pressed upwards, hungrily seeking more contact with Freddy and the kiss deepened and became wilder, hungrier. Zack's hands on Freddy's back were a constant pressure and he tugged roughly on Zack's hair and the brunette moved so perfectly beneath him, his hips pressing roughly upwards against Freddy's and Freddy couldn't even think straight but it didn't matter, because _he was kissing Zack_.

He pulled away, fully intending to try and talk to Zack about all of this, to stop and apologize, and instead he ended up pressing kisses willy-nilly everywhere on every inch of Zack's face. "I'm sorry," he whispered in between kisses. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Zack whispered, hands wrapped around Freddy's neck. "Don't be sorry."

"Tell me to stop," Freddy whispered, nipping Zack's earlobe gently. Zack let out a shaky moan and Freddy knew that if Zack didn't make him stop soon then he wouldn't be able to. "_Tell me to stop_," he whispered again, an order he didn't want Zack to give in to.

Zack's fingers slid through Freddy's belt loops and he tugged Freddy into him again, their hips rubbing harshly together and Freddy's eyes slid shut as he bit back a moan. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring into Zack's eyes. "Don't stop, Freddy," Zack whispered. "Never stop."

That was all the invitation Freddy needed to hear. In two seconds he was practically in Zack's lap, the two boys tangled together as they kissed. Freddy's fingers slid beneath Zack's shirt, teasing across Zack's stomach and there was a hitch in the brunette's breathing. Freddy's fingers caught the bottom of Zack's shirt and moved up, pulling the shirt up. "Off," he ordered. "You've got too much clothing on."

"Oh?" Zack asked breathlessly. "And how much is too much?"

"On you _any_ amount of clothing is too much," Freddy replied. "People like you should be forced to walk around naked twenty-four hours a day. But then again…there really isn't anyone else quite like you." He stared at Zack, who was staring back at him, surprise etched on his face. Freddy smiled slightly. "Off," he repeated.

Zack smiled a small, breathless sort of smile. "…help me?"

"You bet." And then Freddy slowly peeled the skin-tight shirt away from Zack's perfect skin, tugging it up and off. When it was discarded on the floor, Freddy couldn't help but laugh at how messy Zack's hair was after his shirt had been tugged off. Zack smiled, flushing.

"Whaaaat?" he half whined, laughing at the same time. Freddy reached out and smoothed Zack's hair down.

"Your hair's a mess."

"_You're_ a mess," Zack shot back. Freddy laughed.

"Believe me, I know." Then Freddy's gaze fixed on Zack's bare skin and, placing one hand flat-palmed against Zack's chest, he shoved the brunette back. Zack flopped back against his pillow, surprised. "You…are…so…fucking…gorgeous," Freddy said, fingers tracing lightly over Zack's skin. Zack flushed.

"Am not."

"Shut up, Zack, you so totally are."

"Am not."

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to find a way to make you."

"Is that a promise?"

And Freddy kissed Zack fiercely and with every ounce of passion he had, fingers trailing over bare skin, Zack no longer denying his own beauty as he caught a handful of blonde hair and tugged roughly. Freddy moaned into Zack's mouth. "Mmm…do it again."

"Haha…fucking masochist."

"You bet your ass." Freddy's fingers moved constantly, tracing patterns lightly across Zack's stomach as he nipped harshly at Zack's throat. Zack let out a breathy moan.

"Fuck…why didn't we do this sooner?" Zack managed, hands worrying along the waist of Freddy's pants, fiddling with the belt.

"…I never thought you'd be up for it," Freddy whispered, lips brushing against Zack's throat as he spoke.  
"I'm not even justifying that perverse comment with a response," Zack said.

"Hey! Nothing perverse was meant!" Freddy exclaimed.

"Whatever, Freddy," Zack said, still struggling with Freddy's pants. Freddy was too indignant to notice.

"Why do I always come across as such a pervert?!"

"Freddy…it's you. Everything you say is perverse."

"Is not!"

"We are not even beginning this argument again," Zack sighed. "Not again."

"Then stop making me out to be such a perv…whoa!" Freddy had finally noticed what Zack was doing as suddenly Zack's hands were down his pants.

Zack giggled. "Freddy, you ARE a pervert!"

Freddy gasped. "ME?! Okay, let's rewind and reconsider this for a moment: you say I'm the perverted one, yet who's the one with his hands down the other's pants? Um, yeah, that'd be YOU!"

"Okay, fine, I'll move them."

"Whoa whoa whoa, let's not make any hasty decisions here!" Freddy reached back and placed his own hands over Zack's, keeping them right where they were: on his ass. Zack grinned.

"See? You like it."

"I wasn't denying that I do."

"Why are we even talking about this?" Zack asked. "There are much more interesting things we could be doing."

Freddy grinned. "Good point…where were we?"

Zack tightened his hold on Freddy's ass, fingers digging in a bit more than they probably should have and he grinned as Freddy bit back a gasp. "Somewhere around there, I think."

"Mmm…thanks for reminding me." And they were kissing again. It was about fifteen minutes later when, just when Freddy was getting around to getting Zack's pants off, there came a sharp knocking at the door.

"Zack?" It was Zack's father. Freddy shot up, rolling off Zack so fast that he rolled right off the bed and onto the floor.

"OW!"

"Zack? Who's in there?"

"Um, one minute dad," Zack called, fumbling for his shirt.  
"Zack, I'm coming in." The door pushed open right as Zack finished doing up his pants. He immediately stood at attention, running one hand through his hair in an effort to neaten it up, and he wished his face weren't as flushed as he knew it must be. His father raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing, Zack? Who's here?"

"Me, Mr. Mooneyham," came Freddy's muffled voice from under the bed. Zack's dad immediately looked grouchier as he recognized Freddy's voice.

"Frederick." Even his voice sounded displeased. "What are you doing? Why are you under Zack's bed?"

From under the bed, Freddy struggled with his clothes. _Putting my pants back on, _he thought. _And my shirt…and trying to get my raging hormones under control. _Freddy's head popped up. "Looking for my cell phone," he said. "I dropped it." He disappeared from view again, then popped up once more, rising to his feet. "Found it." Fully clothed now, he held the phone up and waved it about. "No worries."

"Yeah," Zack said, pointing. "We…we were looking for his…" Zack's voice dropped as his father turned a disapproving gaze on him. "…cell phone," he finished meekly.

"Zack…why on earth is your shirt on inside out…and backwards?"

Zack looked down and mentally kicked himself as he saw the tag of his t-shirt sticking out. "Uhhh…." He looked up at his father. "…new fad?"

His father closed his eyes and let out a long-suffering sigh, obviously cursing himself for having such a stupid pathetic excuse for a son. Opening his eyes, he turned his attention back on Zack, pretending that Freddy didn't exist. "Your mother will be home late tonight…I'd like you to start getting dinner ready."

"Sure…I'll be right down."

Satisfied, Mr. Mooneyham turned to leave, acknowledging Freddy with a stiff nod on his way out, shutting the door behind him. Neither boy moved. Neither spoke. The atmosphere had become awkward and uneasy and both knew that it would be nearly impossible to go back. Finally, Freddy broke the silence.

"Well…I'd better get going."

"…yeah," Zack said. There was a long silent pause.

"Well…bye."

"Freddy-" Zack began, but Freddy was climbing out the window and down the trailing ivy that grew up Zack's side of the house, the way he had always gotten in and out when they were younger. Zack stared at the spot where Freddy had been, completely at a loss for anything to do.

* * *

"So what'll it be today?"

Freddy shivered in the small dirty building. He hated coming here, hated these people, hated that he needed to do this shit. "What have you got for me?"

"That depends…you looking for the same old kick or something new?"

"Something new," Freddy said immediately. "Something different." After all, today had been a very different day and required something new.

"Okay…in that case, might I suggest…LSD."

Freddy pondered it for a moment. He wasn't very familiar with LSD, he had never done it. But he had hung out with people who did it. He tried to think of someone who had done LSD and thought immediately of Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and nearly giggled aloud. That bathroom scene was the funniest in the movie. _"With a bit of luck, his life was ruined forever. Always thinking that just behind some narrow door in all of his favorite bars, men in red woolen shirts are getting incredible kicks from things he'll never know."_ Freddy suppressed his snickers, knowing how crazy he would look if he started giggling for no reason, and made a mental note to watch that movie when he did the LSD. It would probably look pretty cool when he was tweaking out.

"….okay." Freddy handed over the cash.

"Here you go, man…enjoy."

"Thanks." And Freddy bolted, hating to be there for a moment longer than he had to.

* * *

Freddy sat in front of the TV, blanket pulled over his head and wrapped tightly around him like a veil, hands clenching it tightly just under his chin. Five cup of noodles were in front of him, all of them half eaten and growing cold. He stared at the TV, eyes wide and mouth agape as he stared in wonder. Johnny Depp was currently pulling a cardboard box over his head, trying to sleep. Shouting came from the bathroom where Benicio Del Toro was in a drug induced haze in the bathtub. As he shouted, Freddy shouted too, jumping in surprise and clenching the blanket tighter. "NOOO! Don't go in the Room of Doom!" he shouted at Johnny Depp, who of course paid no attention whatsoever. Not that Freddy cared. He merely started giggling over the term 'Room of Doom.'

The phone rang suddenly and Freddy jumped a foot, diving fully under the blanket and curling into a little ball. It rang again. Slowly, he poked his head out and stared at it. It rang. He reached out and poked it. It rang. Finally, he reached out and picked it up, cautiously lifting it to his ear. "………………………." He waited.

"…hello?" It was Zack.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?!"

"…Freddy?"

"…who are you and how do you know who I am?!"

"….it's ZACK!"

"Oh."

"Yeah…" There was an awkward pause as Zack shuffled his feet nervously and Freddy pulled his knees up, curled up half under the blanket as he stared at the screen, forgetting completely that he was on the phone. Finally, Zack cleared his throat. "I just wanted to call…to talk about…about…about what happened earlier…"

At that moment, Benicio Del Toro lunged out of the bathtub, diving at Johnny Depp and waving a hunting knife about. Freddy let out a high pitched shriek of a cackle. "DIE DIE, MOTHERFUCKUH!" He tossed the phone at the TV and it went dead.

Zack found himself listening to a dial tone. "…Freddy?" He stared at the receiver as if it would give him the answer to what just happened. "…what the fuck was that about?"

In his room, Freddy dove under the blanket again, curled up in a tight ball as he giggled insanely at the craziness of it all. "Die die motherfuckah," he giggled, and repeated the words over and over to himself until, about an hour later, he passed out cold.

tbc


	4. Thank You

**A/N:** Here ya go, puppies, its chapter four and it's HAPPY to see you! And it's out so fast! Woot! Be excited! This one finds me in a happy mood at 1:30 in the morning. You have the Red Sox to thank for this. If they hadn't won I wouldn't be in this great a mood and probably wouldn't have finished tonight. So y'all better show them some R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Red Sox, World Series Champions. Such a nice ring to it, ne?

**DEDICATION:** Entirely to_ PFB_. Carrie, this one's for you, even though you've read some of it already. I know I was supposed to have some big cool thing in here that I told you I'd put in for you when you read the last chapter, but I honestly can't remember what it was. It had nothing to do with the story, just some random thing I was going to write in your dedication. And now I can't remember. Mehhh, I'm sorry. I'll remember eventually, I know it, and then I'll stick it in a later author note. Forgive me! Mayors of Dorkville forever!

**IMPORTANT INFO:** So it's pretty much along the same lines, more makeout scenes, more angst, more of Freddy being a big loser. A bit more pervy than usual, though I managed to get around writing some of the more sexual parts and just hinted at what was going on. There's an angsty ending, and I also have Freddy wearing makeup at one point. This is not supposed to be any sort of drag reference or anything. I just think that it's possible for a male prostitute to wear makeup. And to anyone who thinks guys in makeup look bad, go watch Velvet Goldmine and then get back to me on that one. John Rhys-Meyers is fucking hot with blusher. Sex on a stick. All I have to say.

**DISCLAIMER:** I still own no part of School of Rock or anything else worth any real money. Cept the cool tings I've bought on eBay. And they don't count.

**CLAIMER:** As always, I own Freddy's stellar wardrobe. I think that's it for this chapter.

**SHOUT OUT: **To **pltzchen**. I just reread your review on this where you were like "I was listening to my headset and guess what song came on! Walk this Way by Aerosmith!" Funniest review EVER, no shit. So you get a shout out. Cause you're cool. :D

**FICLET!**

****

* * *

An extremely annoying sound. Over and over and over and…Freddy opened one eye, his mind slowly registering the sound as his alarm clock. He glared balefully at it. "Fucking thing." Then, he realized it had been going off for some time…about an hour, to be exact. _How the fuck didn't I wake up? _Then it hit him. _Oh yes…the LSD. _He realized he should be more worried about being about a half hour late to class already, and by the time he got done dressing, it would be sooo much worse…but for some reason that didn't bother him in the least. He sat up and nearly fell back over. The entire room seemed to be swimming. "Shiiiiit." Freddy attempted to get out of bed and still end up on his feet, but it didn't work too well. He ended up on his feet, alright, but only after scrambling on his stomach to the edge and rolling off. He nearly fell over once he stood up; the entire room wavered before him and he felt like he would be sick to his stomach.

Crossing the room was just as much of an ordeal. He walked half bent over, both hands over his mouth to prevent throwing up, which he figured would definitely happen sooner or later. He made it halfway to the dresser before thinking better of it; it was just too much walking and sooo unnecessary. _I can _totally _just wear these clothes to school. _Pulling a ski cap over his hair, he headed for the door, still bent over. He just hoped he wasn't running too late…

Zack tapped his pencil rapidly on the desk, trying hard as he could to avoid looking at the door. He'd been looking almost every other minute and he knew soon he'd get in trouble for not paying attention. Besides, no matter how often he looked, Freddy wasn't there.

_Was it something I did? Did I fuck up? Was I not supposed to kiss him back? Was he serious when he told me to tell him to stop? _The pencil tapping grew more and more rapid. The teacher cleared her throat loudly and Zack froze, pencil stopping mid-tap. "Sorry," he mumbled.

The door burst open and Freddy staggered in, not quite bent in half but pretty damn close. He had one hand to his stomach as though he would be sick any minute. A black ski cap hid his hair completely, but that wasn't the worst part of his outfit. He was wearing pajamas…bluish-purplish plaid pants with a black wife beater…and pair of battered red converse sneakers, completely undone, laces flapping loosely about his feet. He totally clashed and looked like he had been pulled out of bed and flung into the room.

"Mr. Jones," the teacher said disapprovingly. "How nice of you to join us…I'm glad you remembered it was black tie attire."

"Sorry, I seem to have missed that memo," Freddy said weakly, stumbling to his seat and practically falling into it.

"Well, as you can see, Freddy, class is about to end. You've missed the whole thing. That earns you a detention."

"Swell," Freddy mumbled. The teacher scowled.

"Make that two detentions."

"Ter_rific_."

"You want to try for a third?"

"No thanks."

"Then stop with the mouth."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period. Zack stood, shouldering his bag and moving to stand in front of Freddy's desk. Freddy groaned. "God, I don't hafta get up, do I?"

"Yeah, Freddy, it's time for Chemistry."

"Oh God." Freddy dropped his head to the desk with a loud thunk. "I dun wanna go."

"Well…sorry…you kind of have to." Zack crouched down in front of Freddy's desk. "Hey…look at me."

Freddy lifted his face and peered blearily at Zack, and Zack nearly fell over in shock. He had thought Freddy had looked bad the day before…that was nothing like this. Freddy's eyes were puffy and had huge purple circles under them to the point where he almost looked like he'd been hit. His face was so pale…worse than Zack had ever seen it, even worse than it had been when they both had caught the flu together when they were seven…the two had been stuck in Freddy's bedroom for a full week while they got over it. Zack had thought Freddy looked like hell then, but that had nothing on now. The blonde looked as if he'd had the flu for a month or more. There was a slight flush of pink across his cheeks, far more than there should have been with the paleness of the rest of his skin. "Holy SHIT, Freddy."

"Huh?"

"You look_ terrible_! How do you feel?"

"…terrible."

"I thought as much. Here…come on." Zack moved next to Freddy and put an arm around the blonde's waist, helping him to his feet. "I'm taking you home."

"No," Freddy mumbled, "Can't go. Gotta stay…missin' too much class lately." Somehow his ski cap had gotten knocked askew and suddenly fell off. Zack caught it.

"Freddy, you're sick."

"No, but I will be in a minute."

"Oh God…are you going to throw up?"

"….it's highly likely."

"Oh God." Zack steered Freddy towards the nearest bathroom. Freddy groaned suddenly, doubling over in pain. "Its okay, come on, we're nearly there." Zack pushed open the door and shoved several freshmen out of the way, ignoring their angry glares as he steered Freddy into a stall. Freddy barely made it there before collapsing and promptly getting sick.

"Oh, gross," one of the freshmen exclaimed. Zack threw an angry glare in their general direction and they scattered. Turning back, he brushed a stray lock of hair out of Freddy's eyes and rubbed the blonde's back gently.

"Okay? You feel better?"

Freddy coughed harshly, a loud choking sound. "…not really. Everything's swimming."

"Okay…just…stay where you are. Just hold on a second." Zack went over to the sink and wet down some paper towels with cold water. Returning to Freddy's side, he wiped the blonde's face off with the cool paper towels. Freddy sighed.

"'m sorry."

"No, don't be. Don't be sorry, Freddy."

Freddy coughed again, a little less than before. "God…" he mumbled. "So humiliating."

"Freddy, you got sick. Everyone gets sick."

"Not like this."

"Like what?"

"…nothing." Freddy's hands ran through his hair and he seemed to finally notice that his hat was missing. "Where's my hat?"

"Right here." Zack handed it over. "It fell off in the hallway. ….you feeling a bit better?"

"A bit."

"Can you walk?"

"…probably." Freddy had no real desire to get up, considering the world was still swimming and Zack appeared to have three eyes.

"Come on, then, I'll take you home."

"No no, Zack, it's okay, really. I'm not sick, it's just…" he broke off.

"…just what?"

_Just a bad LSD trip, _he thought ruefully, wracking his brain for an excuse to give Zack. "…nothing."

"…okay. Well then I'm taking you home."

"No, Zack, really."

"Freddy, enough with the arguing. Give me your keys!"

"Why?"

"Cause my car's still broken. I'm going to drive you home."

"Zack, no."

Growling, Zack shoved both hands into Freddy's pockets.

"HEY!"

"Dude, you don't give up the keys willingly so I'm taking them by force. You're going home and I'm going to take you there and make sure you go to bed."

Freddy couldn't think of another argument, not when Zack's hands were shoved so deeply into his pockets….and_ especially_ not when everything was changing color before his eyes. Finding the keys, Zack stood up. "Come on." Putting his arms about Freddy's waist, he helped the blonde to rise. _God…he's so skinny_, Zack thought worriedly. He hadn't noticed before just how thin the blonde had gotten. He could feel Freddy's hipbones jutting out harshly, and now that he looked, each rib was discernable. _How did I ever miss it?_ "Okay?" he asked, not even sure what he was asking about.

"Okay," Freddy responded, not sure what he was agreeing with.

The walk to and through the parking lot took twice as long as it normally would. Finally they made it to Freddy's car and Zack helped the exhausted blonde climb in. Freddy promptly curled into the smallest possible human ball way in the corner of the passenger side and for once, Zack didn't tell him to put a seatbelt on. The blonde was obviously completely miserable, though from what Zack didn't know.

If the walk through the parking lot had been bad, the one through Freddy's house and up the stairs to his bedroom was far worse. Freddy's parents were quite well off and the house was huge, the staircase long and winding. Finally they made it to his room and Freddy nearly collapsed into bed, rolling onto one side and letting out a little moan as he curled around his pillow. Zack leaned over him, removing each one of the red sneakers and laying them quietly on the floor. Next came the hat, tugged off with just a bit of difficulty. He leaned farther over, reaching to pull the covers up, and then came the unexpected hand on his wrist. Zack found himself being tugged forwards into bed. "FREDDY!"

"Stay with me, Zack, please."

"…you mean…in _bed_ with you?"

"………_please_." Freddy's voice was so soft and pleading, so tiny and miserable that Zack couldn't have said no, even if he wanted to…which of course he didn't. Kicking off his own shoes, he crawled into bed beside Freddy, who smiled slightly and then released his pillow, moving instead and wrapping himself about Zack, one leg thrown over Zack's. Zack immediately flushed crimson, but couldn't help but smile as Freddy nuzzled his cheek against Zack's, burrowing into Zack's neck. Zack brushed a lock of hair out of Freddy's eyes and kissed the blonde's forehead. "Sleep," he commanded. "Feel better."

"Once the room stops spinning," Freddy promised. "And everything stops changing color."

Zack felt a brief wave of confusion at that, but pushed it aside as Freddy curled up even closer into him. It was a question that could be answered later.

* * *

Freddy opened bleary eyes. He had been having a dream. Like so many of his dreams, it had involved Zack. He smiled a little, thinking back on it, and then closed his eyes, hoping to return to the dream again, and curled up closer to the sleeping human form next to him. In response, Zack's nuzzled closer to Freddy. At that, Freddy's eyes shot open and he was fully awake, staring at Zack in complete shock. _So it _wasn't _a dream! _He smiled. Zack looked so pretty while sleeping. Dark long lashes tracing delicate patterns against his lightly flushed cheeks, lips parted ever so slightly as he breathed evenly in his sleep. Freddy's next thought was much more sobering. _Oh _GOD _I totally threw up and he's not even weirded out. He slept here with me. And I'm all gross and scrubby and unwashed. Disgusting. _Slowly, determined not to wake Zack, Freddy crawled out of bed and moved as silently as he could to the bathroom, turning on the shower as hot as he could and, grabbing his toothbrush and the pepsodent, he climbed in. Wincing at the heat of the water, he squeezed as much toothpaste as possible onto the brush and began brushing his teeth diligently, trying as hard as possible to get the disgusting taste out of his mouth. "Ick ick ick ick," he mumbled over a mouthful of toothpaste. "Soooo gross." He spat a mouthful of foam down at the drain, then tipped his head back, got a mouthful of water and gargled loudly before spitting that down the drain as well. He had always been one to brush his teeth in the shower, though usually it was because he was late for school and had to seriously multitask.

He scrubbed his hair as hard as he could, loving the feel of the water and thinking how it had been two days since he had showered, shuddering in disgust at the thought.

Finishing up (and thinking to himself how good it was that he had actually been sensible for once), he towel dried his hair into a tousled mess and pulled the plaid pants and the wife beater on again. He silently reentered his room and crawled back in bed beside Zack. Zack opened one eye and looked momentarily at Freddy. He, however, seemed to think he was still dreaming. Closing his eyes, he hummed contentedly and moved closer to Freddy, curling around the blonde. Freddy leaned forwards and gently kissed Zack. Unthinking, Zack pressed gently into the kiss, still half asleep. When Freddy pulled away, he stared at Zack, waiting for some kind of reaction. What he got was Zack sighing, a breathless, pretty sort of sigh, and flopping back against the pillow. Freddy laughed softly. "Silly romantic git." He tugged Zack's shirt up to reveal just the slightest bit of bare skin, stopping just above his belly button. Looking up, he saw Zack still lying there, content smile gracing his lips, eyes still shut. Freddy pressed a kiss to Zack's stomach. There was a slight hitch in Zack's breathing, and then it resumed as normal. Undaunted, Freddy continued, trailing kisses here and there. "Zack?"

"Mmm?"

"Is this okay?" Freddy asked in between kisses.

"Mmm."

"…you sure?"

"Mmmhmm."

"…you're not just saying that cause you're half asleep?"

"MmmMmm."

That sounded like a no to Freddy, but he wasn't willing to take any risks. He crawled on all fours until his face was level with Zack's as he straddled the brunette. "Look at me, Mooneyham." And he leaned forwards and kissed Zack again, deeper this time, fingers tangling in Zack's long brown hair and tugging ever so gently. Zack pressed upwards into it and then his eyes opened, staring at Freddy in surprise. Freddy pulled back immediately, sitting back, his weight resting on Zack's stomach.

"Freddy!"

"Zack."

"What…I…what are you…"

"Oh…" Freddy felt panic rising. "…isn't this okay?"

"Oh…umm…"

"Oh God, it's not. I'm sorry, Zack, I'm so sorry." Freddy moved to crawl off of Zack. Zack grabbed him, holding the blonde where he was.

"Freddy, whoa, geez man, don't jump to any conclusions here!"

"No, really, it's okay Zack, I get it. It's not okay; I shouldn't have assumed it was."

"Freddy! Will you just listen!"

"To what?"

"Freddy: IT'S OKAY."

Freddy stared. "…really?"

"Totally." Zack fidgeted with the bottom of Freddy's shirt. "I was just surprised, is all. I judged by your…um…behavior…on the phone last night…that…that you…you…thought it was all a big mistake."

"…we talked on the phone last night?"

Zack stared at Freddy in astonishment. "…_YES_." He laughed. "_Geez_, Freddy, what were you _ON_ last night?"

"Umm….lots of sugar?" Freddy asked hopefully. Zack arched an eyebrow and opened his mouth as though to argue, but Freddy immediately found a way to shut him up. It worked. The question fled Zack's mind and he moaned into Freddy's mouth.

"Mmm…that's better," he mumbled when Freddy pulled away. Freddy laughed and kissed his way down Zack's throat.

"So…can I get this shirt off?"

"Technically you've already had my shirt off," Zack responded. "I think it's my turn to strip you."

Freddy laughed. "Anything for you," he teased, arms sliding up over his head. Grinning, Zack caught the bottom of Freddy's wife beater and pulled it up and off, discarding it on the floor.

"…Wow."

"What's that mean," Freddy asked, fingers playing idly with the waistband of Zack's pants. Zack smiled.

"I lika de view," he said, grinning. Freddy laughed.

"I'm glad you approve." He murmured, leaning forwards to kiss Zack again. There came a knocking at the door and Zack froze, but Freddy didn't stop pressing kisses to Zack's throat.

"Freddy?" It was his father.

"Yeah?"

"What're you doing?"

"…making out with Zack."

At Freddy's words, Zack's eyes widened impossibly huge and he began shaking his head frantically. Out in the hallway, his father laughed. "Okay…have fun with that."

"Oh, I _will_."

"Is he actually in there, Freddy?"

"Yup."

"I take it he'll be staying for dinner?"

Freddy looked at Zack, who shrugged and nodded. "Yup."

"Okay." They listened to the retreating footsteps, all the way through the hall and down the stairs. Zack swatted Freddy.

"HEY!"

"How could you_ do_ that?" Zack demanded. "Why'd you tell your dad we were…were…"

"…making out?" Freddy laughed. "Come ON, Zack, it's not like he believed me!"

Zack paused. "…good point." He smiled up at Freddy. "Kiss me again?"

"You bet." Freddy stretched out, half on top of Zack, fingers still tangled in Zack's hair. "You've got the nicest hair ever," he murmured.

"Do not."

"Zack, do not even argue with me. I know nice hair when I see it…or…touch it…or…" Freddy slowly stopped speaking, staring into Zack's eyes. The slightest smile curved across Zack's lips. "…what?" Freddy asked.

"I didn't say anything, Freddy," Zack replied, obviously amused. Freddy blinked.

"…was I talking?" He asked. Zack nodded, smile growing every second. "Um…what was I saying? OH, right…about your hair. Sorry," he said, smiling, "I guess I just got lost in those pretty eyes of yours."

Zack blushed crazily. "Stop complimenting me."

"I most certainly will not. You don't get enough compliments as it is. I fully intend to smother you in them."

Zack giggled as Freddy began nipping teasingly at his throat. "You'd better not…I don't think I could deal."

"Well you'll have to learn how to, won't you," Freddy said. "Cause there's no way you're stopping me. Zack Mooneyham is the most beautiful…lovely….sweet….intelligent…caring….luscious boy…in all the world."

By the time Freddy finished, Zack was bright red. Freddy laughed.

"Nice blush, Mooneyham. Nice and red. Hmm…" he paused, vicious grin on his face. "…I wonder how far down that blush goes."

Zack smiled, the flush on his cheeks making him look positively adorable, in Freddy's opinion. "…why don't you find out?"

"Why Zackary Mooneyham," Freddy exclaimed, trying to suppress his smile, "is that a line?"

Zack smiled. "That's a full out offer, Jones, take it or leave it."

"Well…who am I," Freddy said softly, leaning forwards, "to deny such an…amazing gift." He kissed Zack again, fingers busy with the catches on Zack's jeans. Pulling back about an inch away, he looked very seriously at Zack. "…you sure about this, Zack?"

"…why wouldn't I be?"

"Well…" Freddy paused, trying to find a way to word it properly. "I mean…we were…just friends…till yesterday…and…we just kissed…yesterday…so……………….what I'm trying to say," he began, louder and clearer this time, "is are you sure you want to do this…with me?"

Zack stared at Freddy, eyes wide and surprised. "Freddy, there's no one else I'd want to do this with."

Freddy smiled hopefully. "You mean it?"

"I've never been more serious in my life."

Freddy stared at Zack with a crazy smile on his face before he leaned forward and kissed Zack again, a rapid kiss. "You're amazing, Zack."

"Not as amazing as you are."

"Hush, Zack, stop denying how ridiculously incredible you are."

"I-"

But Zack didn't get to finish, because Freddy kissed him again, fingers tangling in the waistband of Zack's pants. Pulling back, he looked a flushed Zack right in the eye. "Now," he began breathlessly, "you want me to get these pants off…or not?"

"…………….yes," Zack said, flushing even more.

"Yes what?" Freddy teased.

"Yes…I want you to." Zack's gaze was lowered; he was too embarrassed to look Freddy in the eye.

"…look at me, Mooneyham."

Zack lifted his gaze, looking Freddy in the eye. "Friends?" Freddy asked. "Friends first, before anything else and no matter what happens, come ruin or rapture?"

Zack smiled a bit at the Shakespeare in Love reference, but swallowed hard and nodded. "Friends always."

Freddy smiled. "Always….sounds pretty damn good to me." And leaning forwards, he pressed a quick kiss to Zack's lips. "…you ready for this?" he asked softly, voice sounding a bit unsteady.

"…as ready as I'll ever be," Zack replied. Both boys were nervous, both seemed unable to look the other in the eye. Freddy crawled down the bed a ways, face level with Zack's stomach again as trembling fingers caught the waistband of Zack's pants. He began tugging them, about to pull them off when…

Knocking at the door. "Freddy?" His father again.

Sighing, Freddy dropped his forehead against Zack's stomach. "…yeah?"

"Dinner's ready."

"Okay…we'll be down in a minute." The boys listened to the footsteps retreating down the hallway and then downstairs. Freddy turned his head sideways, cheek resting on Zack's stomach, staring up at the brunette with morose eyes. "…I'm never going to get you out of these pants, am I?"

Zack laughed. "Probably not."

Freddy sighed again, breath teasing across Zack's stomach, and a little shiver ran down the brunette's spine, a shiver which did not go unnoticed by Freddy. Dark eyes flickered up, full attention on Zack's flushed face. "Little riled up, are we, Mooneyham?"

If possible, Zack turned even more pink. "Shut up."

Freddy laughed. "Wish we didn't have to go down for dinner," he murmured, kisses pressing along Zack's stomach. Zack was finding it incredibly difficult to breathe.

"Mmmmm…"

"Then we could just…stay….here…" Freddy's fingers traced down as before, slipping underneath the waist of Zack's pants and then…

"FREDDY!"

Freddy silently began banging his head gently against Zack's stomach, pantomiming his annoyance. "COMING!"

Zack giggled. "Later," he said. Doing up Zack's pants, Freddy moved upwards, kissing Zack, a long, lingering kiss.

"Later."

* * *

The sound of the two boys coming down the stairs was more like a herd of elephants. Mr. Jones rolled his eyes and his wife smiled. A loud "oof!" was heard, followed by several loud thuds and then only one set of footsteps coming down the stairs. Zack came into view, bent in half with Freddy on his back, grinning like a madman. His mother sighed.

"Freddy….get off of Zack."

"Ahhh, he likes it," Freddy said.

"Get down," she said, trying to suppress her smile and failing. Freddy slid slowly off.

"Oh, Zack likes having me on top of him…dontcha, Zack?" He smacked Zack's ass…hard. Zack turned bright red in a matter of seconds.

"FREDDY!" his mother was beyond all control of her smile and was now full out laughing. Zack gave Freddy a Look; Freddy winked and blew a kiss.

"He's gagging for it."

Mr. Jones shoved Freddy towards the table. "Go eat…maybe you'll shut up once your mouth is full."

At that comment, Zack began choking and Mrs. Jones looked scandalized. "_JASON_!" Freddy began laughing uproariously.

"Freddy, Zack's choking…help him out," Jason ordered, slightly pink himself as he realized how terrible his words had sounded. Freddy gleefully complied with the order, pounding Zack on the back. Finally Zack got his breath, though just barely, and shoved Freddy away.

'GEEZ, Freddy! Trying to beat me to death or what?!"

"Ohhh, don't be such a DRAMA queen, Zack!" Freddy grinned, plopping into a seat. "Come on, eat," he ordered. Zack opened his mouth as though to protest, but Freddy cut him off. "LOOK!" He pointed. "Mashed potatoes!"

Sighing, Zack shook his head and sat down. "It's pointless to argue with you," he grumbled. "Since you don't make any sense anyway."

Freddy's parents joined them. "So, what were you boys up to?" Eileen asked.

"Oh, I was molesting Zack," Freddy said cheerfully, spooning half the bowl of mashed potatoes onto his plate. Eileen raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

"Oh yes," Freddy responded. "Heavily molesting him."

Zack, who was quickly turning bright red, put his face close to his plate and began eating, refusing to look up and let everyone see his embarrassment.

"Well…." Freddy glanced at Zack, who refused to look at him. "…that's the word on the street, anyway." Undaunted by Zack's utter refusal to acknowledge him, Freddy slid one foot over and ran his foot slowly up along Zack's leg. Zack froze, then began eating at an even faster pace. Freddy tried hard to suppress his smile.

"Wow…a bit hungry, Zack?" There was amusement in Jason's voice. Zack froze again, coughed, and very slowly took a sip of milk. Freddy began snickering loudly.

"Freddy, what IS the problem?"

"Problem? Oh, there's no problem," he said, but he glanced at Zack, who made the terrible mistake of returning the look. In five seconds, both boys were giggling madly, leaving Freddy's parents exchanging bewildered glances.

"Freddy…" Jason began, and then stopped, shaking his head. He had no way of finishing that sentence.

"Heh…hehehehe….y…yes?" Freddy managed at last, one hand to his mouth, biting down on his fist to try and stop the laughter. Zack had both hands flat-palmed over his mouth and still the snickering poured forth.

"Are you two finished eating?"

Freddy glanced at Zack, who nodded affirmative, and then, laughing anew, turned to his father. "Yeah."

"Okay. Then…go ahead. There's no point in trying to carry on dinner conversation with either of you two. You are both completely insane."

Freddy grinned. "Thanks dad."

His father returned the smile. "Don't mention it. Now off with you…go."

Not one to disobey a direct order such as that, Freddy was on his feet in no time at all, dragging Zack up and out of the room close behind him. He dragged Zack up the stairs to his room, two fingers hooked in the collar of Zack's shirt. Dragging the brunette into his room, he slammed the door and shoved Zack up against it, kissing the brunette forcefully. It took a moment for Zack to respond, too surprised was he after their flight up the stairs. Then his hands tangled in Freddy's hair, tugging harshly, remembering how much of a masochist Freddy seemed to be. It worked; Freddy moaned against Zack's mouth and shoved Zack harder into the door, pressing the entire length of his body against Zack, rubbing his hips roughly against Zack's with such force that Zack gasped loudly. "Freddy!"

"Mmm?" Freddy murmured against Zack's throat, fingers sliding underneath the shirt and teasing over Zack's skin.

"_Fuck_, Freddy!"

"Wow…that's moving awfully fast, Zack…didn't know you wanted my body _that _bad…"

"You know what I meant, Freddy."

"Oh…do I?" Freddy's fingers were making quick work of Zack's pants, unzipping them so gently that Zack didn't even notice.

"Well…you _should_….I…ahh…Freddy…" Zack couldn't even finish a sentence, too completely caught up in the way Freddy was trailing kisses down his stomach. Sighing, he let his head fall gently back against the door, eyes sliding slowly shut as Freddy continued his ministrations. Then Freddy's hands were in his pants and his eyes shot open in shock. "FREDDY!"

"What?" Freddy paused, looking up at Zack. "I thought this is what you wanted."

"I…" _I do want it, _he wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to speak the words. Then he felt that teasing touch again and let out a deep shuddering breath.

"Zack?"

Zack's eyes slid shut. "Yes," he said softly. There was a rustling of fabric as Freddy slowly tugged Zack's boxers down and then Zack let his head fall back against the door again, eyes shutting as Freddy went to work. "Yes," he breathed, mind going nearly blank. He had never felt anything like this before. Everything he was feeling was so clichéd, but it was everything he'd wanted for so long, all the elements added up together to equal one perfect shining…thing. He wasn't sure what it was. All he could think of was how good it all felt, the way Freddy would pause and ask him if this was okay, if Zack wanted this, and Zack would barely be able to manage an affirmative answer, the feeling of Freddy's fingers teasing across his bare skin…..and somewhere in all this came the question…the question that (unbeknownst to him at the time) had an answer that would ruin everything: just how had Freddy ever learned to do this so well?

Fingers clenched suddenly in short blonde hair. "Freddy," Zack managed. And that was all he could get out and then it was over, and his head thunked not so gently against the door, his eyes wide as he gasped for air. Freddy leaned into Zack, head against Zack's stomach and his arms wrapping about the brunettes waist, fingers hooking in the back of Zack's pants, breath warm on bare skin. Zack wrapped his arms about Freddy, fingers tangling in blonde hair again as both struggled to steady their breathing.

"…wow," Zack said at last. Freddy laughed a breathless sort of laugh, breath teasing across Zack's skin.

"Good wow?" he asked, voice slightly muffled.

"Very good wow," Zack responded. There was a pause. "Thank you," Zack said. Freddy laughed again, rising to his feet.

"Leave it to you to say thank you after someone gives you a blow job," he teased.

Zack flushed. "Shuttup."

Freddy smiled, brushing a lock of hair out Zack's eyes. "It's a good thing, dear," he said, kissing Zack gently. Zack smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Freddy kissed Zack again, a longer kiss this time. After a moment, Zack pushed Freddy off.

"So, where'd you learn to do that, anyway?" he asked, teasing, not realizing that Freddy's smile faded at the question.

"Nowhere." Freddy turned and walked towards his bed.

"Oh, come on, Freddy," Zack said, following him. "I know you whore yourself on the street every Thursday night."

Freddy froze, then spun to face Zack. "Shut UP, Zack! That is _not_ even _FUNNY_!" Zack stared at Freddy, stunned. Freddy sighed, slumping onto the bed, face in his hands.

"Geez…Freddy…….I'm sorry." Zack sat down next to Freddy, who didn't look up. "I didn't mean to upset you…I just…I thought that…"

"It's okay," Freddy said, voice muffled.

"No, I didn't mean to upset you, really," Zack said, tentatively placing one hand gently on Freddy's back. "I was just trying to joke….I'm sorry."

Freddy finally moved his hands away from his face and looked up at Zack. "No…really….it's okay. I shouldn't have gotten upset so easily." He smiled slightly. "..stay over?"

"But…Freddy…it's…"

"…it's what?" Freddy's brow furrowed.

"…it's a_ school_ night." Zack sounded scandalized at the mere thought.

Freddy laughed. "Who cares?" He leaned a little closer. "Come on, Zack….please stay? Don't you want to stay with me?"

Zack sighed. He could never resist those damn puppy dog eyes, not when Freddy was the one doing them. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

Grinning, Freddy grabbed Zack's collar and dragged the brunette back onto the bed with him, tugging Zack close. "Good."

"Freddy…Freddy," Zack laughed, attempting to disentangle himself from the blonde who was currently kissing him on every available surface. "If I'm staying, I have to call my dad."

"Fuck your dad."

"Freddy, he'll _kill_ me if I don't call."

"Oh, al_RIGHT_." Somehow managing to pull one leg from underneath Zack's back and one arm from under Zack's shoulders, and the other arm away from where it was dangerously close to the zipper on Zack's pants again, Freddy managed to grab the phone and plunked it down on Zack's stomach. Zack grinned.

"Ouch." Within minutes, he had reached the answering machine. "Dad? It's me. I'm staying at Freddy's house tonight…we have…..a school project to finish, and we thought it'd just be easier for me to stay here…so don't worry about me, okay? I'll be home early after school tomorrow and I'll get dinner ready. Okay………..bye." Zack hung up the phone after that awkward finish, and turned to Freddy, who was grinning broadly. "_What_?"

"Pulled that excuse out of your ass, didn't ya?"

Zack laughed. "Oh yeah." Freddy pulled Zack into his arms again and Zack curled up closer to Freddy, snuggling into the warmth of that slim body, and another pang of worry hit him as he realized yet again just how skinny Freddy was. "Freddy…"

"Yeah?"

"Why're you so skinny?"

There was a long pause. Zack struggled against sleep as he waited for an answer. "…no reason." A not at all satisfactory answer.

"Freddy-"

"Shhh…." Fingertips placed gently against Zack's lips. "Go to sleep."

"But-"

"Sleep." And Zack complied, too tired to fight against Freddy any longer.

Freddy listened to the brunette's breathing become deep and even next to him. Slowly, gently, he slid out from under Zack's arm and got out of bed. It was early still, but he had a long night ahead of him. His cash flow was almost out and he needed some more, fast. He dragged the tight jeans out of his bottom drawer, the form-fitting cut off shirt out of the back of his closet. Going into the bathroom, he flicked on the light and grimaced at what he saw in the mirror. Zack was right; he looked terrible. After a bit of rummaging, he managed to fish out the few bits of makeup that he had stored up for occasions such as this.

A bit of cream under the eyes to take away the dark circles, a bit of eye shadow to liven his face up. More blusher than he would ever have used normally…his skin was too fucking pale to go the normal way tonight. Within minutes, he was looking much better. The eyes weren't so puffy, he didn't look so tired, and he actually had some color for the first time in…God, he couldn't remember how long.

Flicking off the light, he went back into his room. Zack was still sleeping peacefully, completely unaware that Freddy had left. Freddy turned away. It was too painful to look at Zack and think about all that had happened and then go and do what he was about to do. Grabbing the cigarettes out of his nightstand drawer, he stuck them in his back pocket and then climbed out the window, only a slight drop down from the first story bedroom, and then was walking off into the night, lit cigarette already to his lips. It would be one long fucking night.

tbc


	5. Its that simple

**A/N:** So, here you go. I thought this one would take a while to get done, but it didn't really, not once I got going. This is really really angsty and melodramatic soap opera-ish. Therefore my gf will hate it, lol. She only likes fluff. I like angst. Oh well. She can deal. :D So yeah, quite depressing and way over-the-top melodramatic, but that's okay, right? Cause that's why you all love me.

**DISCLAMIER:** I still don't own SoR or any part of it. Indeed. I also do not own The Shining or the little sequence I used from it.

**CLAIMER:** Freddy's suicide kit (which I hope I never have any need of), his cloves (which I hope I don't have much need of, though I do enjoy them), the rainbow roses, the rats and the crackers, any and all of Zack's money, and…I think that's it for this chapter.

**DEDICATION:** To _Carrie_, once again. Cause you apparently like this one, so you are quite special. Also to_ Chinsky_, who is (apparently) a fan, and a tres cool one at that. No, you are not just cool. You are (as the French would say) "hypercool"…and that's pronounced "ee-pear," not "hyper" like it looks. Hehehe.

**WARNINGS:** Prepare for severe angst (as stated) and Zack being kinda girly AND a bit of a wanker and his dad being a complete asshole. Also, a few notes: Freddy smokes cloves b/c I recently discovered that they really taste good, hence the mention of the vanilla-ish taste. Zack's rainbow roses I used cause I love roses and that's what I bought my mom once when I fucked up majorly, hehe. And the reference to The Shining is because I just saw it and you won't get this unless you've seen the movie, but if you've seen at least the flashback dream sequences with the blood pouring down the stairs and flooding the hotel, they're quite effective. They really stick with you. Because Kubrick is fucking amazing (RIP). Thanks.

* * *

Freddy climbed out of the car, trying not to shudder in disgust at everything that had just happened. One hand was already automatically reaching into his back pocket for the cigarettes…he needed one after this. Turning, he leaned in the open window, trying to avoid looking at the man as he collected his money. It always felt so humiliating, so degrading, but tonight it was ten thousand times worse. Usually Freddy could deal with it because he wasn't getting any from the person he really wanted, so he didn't have to think about how ugly what he was doing was in comparison to how truly beautiful it could be. Now, after two brief touches of Zack, he was given a terribly rude awakening…and he was thoroughly disgusted.

Freddy took a long drag of the cigarette and then breathed out smoke into the cool night air, tongue tracing briefly across his lips to taste the sweet vanilla-ish taste left there by the cigarette. Freddy had never liked smoking until he had tried cloves. Nothing special about actually smoking them, but the aftertaste they left on one's lips was too good for him to ever give them up.

He slowly became aware that a car had slowed to a halt just to his left. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself up and turned, fake smile pasted on his face as he sauntered over. Bending over, he went to lean in the window. "Hey, there…" He froze abruptly, eyes widening in surprise and horror. The person in the car was none other then Zack's father, who was wearing an almost identical expression.

Freddy's mind raced through all of the possible excuses or explanations he could give for being on the street dressed like this, smoking, at this hour of the night, wearing _makeup_….and came up with nothing. He stood there, staring like an idiot, completely shocked…and then Mr. Mooneyham drove off at top speed, tires screeching the whole way.

Freddy didn't even turn to watch him go, merely stood there looking completely horrified. "Oh my God…" Slowly, his eyes welled up with tears which began falling freely and unchecked. "Oh my God," he whispered, voice choked with sobs. "Oh my God…" He buried his face in his hands. "Oh my God," he kept whispering to himself, over and over. This was it. It was over. Mr. Mooneyham would tell Zack and Zack would be disgusted and never speak to him again. He felt physically ill at the thought. Without Zack, he just couldn't cope. Fingers involuntarily traced over his body, feeling the rough scars that traced his skin. He swayed on his feet…suddenly he felt as if he would really be ill. Spinning about, Freddy made a break for the alley nearby, barely making it there before he collapsed, knocking over a trash can as he did so. Barely making it to his knees, he threw up, just managing to make it into the trashcan.

Freddy rolled over onto his side, sobbing without restraint now, curling up into the fetal position as he wept. He dug his fingers into his temples, nails clawing at the skin as though he could carve himself open by sheer will. Thin rivulets of blood ran down his forehead and dripped into his eyes and to the dirty ground of the alley. He sobbed so hard that he could barely breathe, and lay there gasping for air, rocking slightly back and forth. He wanted someone there to hold him…he wanted Zack. He wanted the brunette to comfort him as he had done earlier that day, to brush his hair back and speak in a soothing voice and tell him everything would be alright. But it wasn't alright…it wasn't. And Freddy highly doubted it would ever be alright again.

* * *

Freddy woke up early the next morning, dark eyes half lidded with exhaustion and confusion as he looked around, wondering where he was. Then the previous night came back to him and he started shaking all over again, the small jittery shakes that he had suffered from for the past few years. They didn't happen often….well, oftener lately than they used to. Freddy had been suffering more panic attacks than usual. He wondered why he had woken up. Then, he realized with dawning terror that he felt something touching him. Sitting up as fast as possible, he discovered two rats which had been crawling over him, picking at an old package of crackers which he had apparently been sleeping in. At his discovery, he nearly threw up again. Instead he shoved the rats back, hollering profusely as much to scare them as out of sheer fright himself. The rats scampered and Freddy flopped backwards, groaning. His throat hurt like a bitch and his stomach wasn't feeling too hot, either. He checked his watch. 5:02. In the morning. Rahr. He forced himself to his feet. He had to get home before Zack woke up and left.

* * *

Freddy's alarm went off, loudly and obnoxiously, and Zack groaned and ducked under the covers. _Don't wanna get up…_ When the alarm didn't stop, he sat up with a growl, shoving the covers back, and turned off the alarm. Turning over, he saw Freddy sleeping beside him, looking extremely disheveled and unhappy, even in his sleep. Zack's brow furrowed in puzzlement. As he watched, Freddy let out a little whimper and instinctively reached out and grabbed a handful of Zack's shirt. Zack noticed that Freddy's face looked a little flushed…or…wait a minute…was he wearing makeup? _No…couldn't be…_

Zack leaned over, gently kissing Freddy's forehead. "Freddy," he whispered. "Come on, Freddy…we've got to get up for school."

Freddy whimpered again. "No…" he said softly, curling up in a tiny ball, pressing himself closer to Zack.

"Freddy…"

"Just a few more minutes, Zack, please…"

Zack stared, then sighed. "Okay. I need to go home and get my stuff anyway."

"Okay….I'll pick you up on my way to school, then," Freddy murmured.

"Okay." Zack kissed Freddy once more. "Bye." The blonde murmured something unintelligible and went immediately back to sleep. Zack sighed as he went downstairs. Apparently Freddy didn't remember that Zack's car was broken, and therefore he would now have to walk home. Oh well. It wasn't too far a walk.

* * *

Zack shoved the front door open, tossing his bag to the floor. "Dad, I'm home!" He need hardly have said anything; his father was sitting there at the kitchen table, waiting. And he did not look at all happy.

Zack swallowed hard. "…dad," he began, but his father interrupted him.

"Why weren't you home last night, Zackary?"

"I…dad…I told you why….I had a project with Freddy, so I stayed over-"

"What were you doing at that boy's house?"

Zack was extremely confused and surprised by his father's behavior. "…I just told you, dad…we had a proj-"

"Don't you give me that bullshit," his father hissed, rising angrily to his feet and shoving the chair out of his way, nearly flipping it over. "I know what that little friend of yours is up to…I know he wasn't at his house last night."

Zack couldn't have been more surprised if his father had suddenly popped out of a cake wearing a Miss America sash. "…what?"

"Do not even try to lie to me, Zackary…I know what your friend is up to…I saw him!"

"……….dad, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you in on it?" His father demanded. "Are you part of his little scheme?"

"…………..dad…………….I'm serious…I don't know what you're trying to say."

"I'm saying that your little friend is a whore, Zackary!"

Zack felt completely frozen with shock. "….what?!"

"I saw him last night on my way home from work, Zack, walking the streets in clothing no decent human being would wear, with makeup on, and he actually had the audacity to try and get me to…to…" Mr. Mooneyham broke off, shuddering in disgust at the mere thought. Zack stood frozen, completely stunned, no idea what to say or do. "How could you, Zack? Honestly, how could you? After everything your mother and I have done for you, you do this…take up with a common whore!"

"It's not true!"

"……what?"

Zack took a deep breath, an icy fist clenched around his heart. "It's not true," he repeated. "It can't be true. Freddy wouldn't…he would never…"

"Zackary, I saw it with my own eyes."

"NO!" Zack was beginning to shake now, half out of fear and half out of fury at his father. "It's not true…I won't let it be true."

"Zackary-"

But Zack was already out the door and running, feet pounding on the pavement as he made a dash for Freddy's house. He could barely breathe and could hardly even run, stumbling every few feet as his mind raced. _It can't be true…it can't be…_

Shoving open the front door, he ran past Freddy's parents who were about to leave for work. "Hi, Zack," Jason began, but Zack was already halfway up the stairs. He flung open the door to Freddy's room and the blonde looked up in surprise to see Zack, disheveled and panting in the doorway.

"Zack!" He said, clearly surprised. He moved over to the brunette. "I thought I was supposed to pick you up…what's wrong?" He went to take Zack's hands but Zack pushed him off.

"Freddy," Zack said, and then didn't even know where to begin. The two boys stared at each other for a few minutes, Freddy feeling the first edge of nervousness beginning to creep into the corners of his mind, Zack not even wanting to begin this conversation. "I…"

"…Zack, what is it?" There was such a look of concern in Freddy's eyes that Zack felt as though his heart were breaking. How could he even begin to believe his dad? There's no way Freddy was…was… Zack choked, reaching out and grabbing Freddy, pulling the blonde close and embracing him tightly.

"Oh, God, Freddy, oh God…"

"Zack, what is it?" Freddy's voice was genuinely frightened now and he gently ran his fingers through long dark hair soothingly. "What's wrong?"

Zack pulled back and kissed Freddy, feeling heat behind his eyes and praying to God that he wouldn't cry. He hoped his father was wrong, but if that was so, then what kind of friend was he to even slightly believe that it could be true? Pulling back, he looked Freddy in the eye. "Freddy," he began, voice very soft. "My…my dad says…" He took a deep breath.

"…yeah?"

"…….my dad says that he saw you on the street last night," Zack said in a rush, looking away, unable to meet Freddy's eyes as he said the words. "That you were…were…."

"……whoring myself?"

Zack was so grateful to not have to say the words that it took him a moment to realize that Freddy's voice had taken on a very bitter edge. "…yes." He looked up. "But I told him it couldn't be true, it couldn't be." He looked at Freddy, but the blonde wouldn't return the look. it?"

Freddy turned, moving towards his bed. "If it can't be true, then why do you even have to ask me about it?"

"….because….Freddy………" Zack couldn't come up with a reason, didn't know what to say. If it wasn't true then he would feel terrible for suspecting such a thing at all. But Freddy had been acting so odd lately and when he had spoken those words…Zack didn't know what to think anymore. "…I don't know, Freddy."

Freddy spun to face him. "You want to know, Mooneyham? Yes. I'm a whore. I'm a fucking whore. Happy now? I bet your dad is. Bet he's_ real_ happy. Now he actually has a reason to hate me." He sank onto the bed, face in his hands. Zack stood frozen, his worst fears confirmed.

"…Freddy…" Zack moved over to the bed and stood there, not knowing what to say or do. "…..why?"

Sighing, Freddy tugged up his shirt sleeves to reveal track marks along his arms, track marks that Zack had somehow managed to miss the night before…though it wasn't surprising, really…one doesn't usually inspect their lovers arms for traces of heroin use during extreme fits of foreplay. "I'm a fucking drug addict. Is that what you wanted to hear? I bet it is. Not just heroin, either. You name it, I've most likely done it. The other night on the phone when I apparently acted so strangely? LSD, which is consequently the reason I was so sick yesterday. I'm not going to give you any gruesome details on the rest of them….I think you can safely assume that I've done every drug that one can buy in this fabulous country of ours."

"…when did this happen?" Zack couldn't get his voice to rise above a whisper, but even that sounded loud in the violent silence of the room.

"……when did it start, you mean? Eighth grade. Eighth grade it started with my meds…had to start seeing a therapist cause I was always so depressed…remember? And she gave me prozac…took half a bottle that day and od'd…had to go to the hospital and get my stomach pumped. But I liked it…I liked the high. So much that I kept on doing it, in smaller doses. Then I moved up to bigger things. Tried heroin freshman year and never looked back. Of course, I still occasionally do the odd new drug or two, try something different…hence the LSD…but it's just been growing steadily worse since eight grade. And then," he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Then I couldn't afford anything but simple run of the mill drugs like prozac…so I started doing this…to pay for the drugs."

"…when?"

This time there was a long silent pause. "…second semester of ninth grade."

Zack felt as though he had been punched in the gut. "Ninth grade?" he managed.

"That's what I said, Zack, ninth grade." Freddy's voice was irritable. "Bet that's just what you wanted to hear, huh. I'm a fucking disgusting pathetic excuse for a human being."

"……Freddy," Zack whispered, and couldn't think of anything else to say. Freddy was the person he thought he knew everything about. He could name each of Freddy's favorite foods from each one of the food groups (including a list of his top seven favorite ice cream flavors). He knew the blonde's favorite bands in both alphabetical order and the order in which Freddy liked them. He could tell anyone Freddy's full name and birthday in a second, right down to the very hour and minute of his birth. And yet now, staring down at the blonde head of his best friend, he realized that maybe he didn't really know Freddy at all.

"……aren't you even going to say something besides my name?" came Freddy's muffled voice from beneath his fingers.

"…I don't know _what_ to say, Freddy."

Freddy looked up. "How about that you love me and that it doesn't matter?"

There was another pause as the two boys stared at each other, Zack struggling to think of something to say and Freddy desperately hoping to hear those words pass Zack's lips. Then, finally, Zack shook his head slowly.

"I don't know, Freddy…."

Freddy felt as though his heart had just cracked straight down the middle and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. He wanted to curl up in a corner and die. "…What don't you know, Zack," he said slowly. "What else is there to know? I just spilled my guts, my entire shitty fucking life since eighth grade. What else is there to know?"

"…I just don't know, Freddy…." Zack said awkwardly. "I feel like I don't know you at all."

Freddy struggled hard to keep his face very calm, though he felt the first burning hot pinpricks of tears behind his eyes. "You're the only one who_ does _know me, Zack…I don't want anyone to understand me if its not you. If you can't….I don't think anyone can."

"….I…"

"What else can I tell you, Zack? I don't know what it is you're feeling. All I know is that I have never loved anyone in my entire life the way that I love you. Every time one of those pervert assholes is using me, you know what I do? I just leave…I just let my mind go…and when it does…….it always comes back to you. You're the only thing that makes me happy, Zack." He gestured helplessly. "I don't know what you want me to say, Zack, what do you want me to say? I'll say anything you want me to. What can I say to you to fix all of this?"

"….I don't know that you _can_ fix it, Freddy."

Freddy felt as though he'd been run through, a sharp searing pain straight to the center of his chest. "….Zack…" The brunette wouldn't meet his eyes. Freddy rose, steering Zack about and seating the brunette on the bed, where Zack looked extremely awkward, as though Freddy were going to pounce on him. He knelt down before Zack, taking the brunette's hands, thanking God profusely when Zack didn't pull his hands away. "Zack…don't you understand at all what I'm saying to you? I'm saying that I love you. And I'm sorry if I've fucked that up with all this, I'm so completely sorry, but I don't know what you want me to do, here. I'm saying everything I can think of and you're not giving me anything to go on." He paused, barely able to breathe. "I love you," he repeated, tear filled eyes staring at Zack. "_I love you_."

Zack stared, still looking uneasy. "I just don't know what to say, Freddy. I don't know what you want me to do, here….this is kind of hard for me to deal with."

"…for _you _to deal with!" Freddy exclaimed, aghast. He opened his mouth to continue, but Zack interrupted him.

"Are you going out again tonight?"

There was a long pause as Freddy's expression changed from tearful to bitter. "Yeah," he said, the look on his face challenging Zack to say something. "So what?"

Zack shut his eyes, fighting back the tears he knew were there, waiting to make a grand old entrance. Digging into his pockets, he pulled out crumpled up fistfuls of cash and shoved them into Freddy's hands.

"Zack!"

"Don't go out tonight, Freddy."

"Zack, I can't take this," Freddy said, looking with wide eyes at the crumpled handfuls of twenties and fives that Zack had shoved at him. Apparently the brunette had just cashed a paycheck, cause there was a lot there.

"Take it, Freddy, please, just take it. I don't want you doing this anymore."

"….Zack…"

"I'm serious, Freddy." Zack fished the last few bills out of his pockets and added them to the pile in Freddy's hands. "Take it." Leaning forward, he kissed Freddy quickly, trying with all his might to hold on to what he believed would be his last kiss ever from Freddy Jones. Then, feeling that he couldn't hold the tears back any longer, he pushed away and stood, heading for the door.

"ZACK!"

The brunette froze at the sound of complete despair written in Freddy's voice. _Don't turn around, _he told himself. _If you look at him, you won't be able to do this. _"No," he said. "No. I can't do this, Freddy. It became far too complicated much too fast."

"_Complicated_?" A laugh with no humor in it. "I love you," Freddy said insistently, his voice thick with tears. "…..it's that simple. Just let me love you."

…and then Zack turned around. He saw Freddy kneeling on the floor, surrounded by the majority of money that had slipped through his shaking fingers. The blonde had tears welled up in his eyes, and those eyes…Zack couldn't stand to look at those eyes. There was no sense of any kind of hope in them. Freddy looked like he was drowning and no one was coming to rescue him. And what was worse than that, he knew it. He knew that he was on his own. Zack shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head furiously. "No," he managed. "No. It's not simple at all." And turning, he bolted from the room, nearly falling down the stairs in his rush to get out of the house. Bursting out of the front door, he fell against one of the pillars on the front porch, clinging to it as though it could help him to get a grasp on the situation. Sobbing freely now, he shook his head as though it would empty his mind of thoughts, thoughts he didn't want to have. He kept seeing this clear mental image of Freddy on the street, some random man pulling over…Freddy getting in the car with him and then….and then….

He felt as though he would be sick. _I will not throw up I will not throw up I will not throw up… _All he could think of was that he wasn't special. Everything he had done with Freddy was something the blonde had done before, and for cash. He couldn't shake off the thought that Freddy didn't care about him.

_He does, _whispered a tiny insistent voice inside his head. _He does too, and you know it._ Zack shook his head furiously, trying to get the thought out of his head. It wouldn't go. Before he could convince himself to go back inside, he was walking off down the road. Where he was heading he didn't know. All he knew was that he had to get away from that house.

* * *

Freddy sat on the floor of his room, surrounded by piles of crumpled up bills, tears streaming down his face. It had happened, happened just as he had guessed it would. Furiously he scattered the money and crawled over to his bed. Reaching under the mattress, he felt around for a moment and pulled out a small flat case. He opened it and stared down at the collection he had amassed, all sorts of sharp objects that he used whenever shit like this happened. Not that shit like this _had_ ever happened, not this bad. Sharpened scissors, a pocket knife or two, some razor blades…he pulled out one of the knives, the duller of the two. He wanted this to be long and painful. He was disgusting scum, that much was clear, and he wasn't going to let himself take the easy way out. Pressing the blade lightly down, he traced it across his skin, making the slightest of cuts. Then he did it to the other wrist, and then repeated it on each, digging a bit deeper each time, slowly and methodically cutting his wrists open with the dull blade.

Everything began swimming before his eyes. Just before he passed out, he realized with dawning horror that he hadn't left a note for anyone. Struggling to his desk, he grabbed a piece of paper. With one finger, dipped in his own blood, he wrote simply "mom, dad, zack….love you." And that was all he could manage before he passed out.

* * *

Zack stepped up to the front door of Freddy's house and cautiously stuck his head in. "Freddy?" There was no answer. He sighed, stepping inside and being extremely careful not to damage the flowers. Yes, flowers. About two and a half miles away from Freddy's house, Zack had realized what a stupid mistake he had made. He had immediately gone to the bank and gotten some more cash and then headed straight to the nearest florist. He figured flowers were a pretty sissy thing to give Freddy, but then again, you never know; Freddy always did have a thing for roses. He sniffed the bouquet, deeply inhaling the fresh scent that he knew the blonde loved so much. He had picked out the biggest bouquet there, all different colors of roses, a rainbow of variety. He just hoped he was right in assuming Freddy would like them.

Zack made his way up the stairs, flowers hidden behind his back. "Freddy?" Still no answer. He was beginning to worry, now. Freddy's car was in the driveway, which should mean the blonde was there, but still….

He pushed to door open and froze, flowers falling to the floor. Everything was red, covered in blood, and scenes from The Shining flashed before his eyes, the vision of the blood pouring down the stairs and flooding the room; it was that bad. And in the middle of all of it was Freddy, lying amidst the now blood stained money, both wrists slit open, blood still spilling forth.

"FREDDY!" He ran over and had the blonde in his arms in a matter of seconds, feeling for a pulse. "Freddy….Freddy, why did you do this?" The blonde made no response, but Zack found a faint, distant pulse. Freddy's eyes suddenly slid half open, eyelids fluttering against his pale skin.

"…Zack?"

"Yes…yes, its me, Freddy," Zack said, trying to hold Freddy close and grab the phone at the same time. He dialed 911 and waited, though not at all patiently. "ANSWER, DAMMIT!"

"Zack…don't call them…I don't…want to…"

Finally, a woman answered the phone. "Hello, hello? I need some help!" Zack said frantically. "My friend just tried to kill himself…well, I don't know when. I left him about an hour ago….maybe less….and I came back and he had slit his wrists."

"Okay…" the woman began. "How bad does it look?"

"There's so much blood," Zack whispered. "Blood everywhere….I don't know, I don't know how bad it is but there's…..he's…." he choked, breaking off.

"Okay, we'll send someone right over," the woman said. "Address?"

"1612 Sycamore Lane," he said. "Green house, white fence….there's a black t-bird out front…" he was stammering in his desperation to give as much information as possible, to insure that the EMTs would find the house in as little time as necessary.

"Okay…someone will be there in about five minutes."

"Thank you….thanks," Zack managed, dropping the receiver to the floor. Then he thought better of it and hung it up in case someone had to call.

"Zack…I don't want to go…" Freddy managed weakly.

"Freddy, shut up, you're not going to die on me here."

"…..but…I _want _to…"

Freddy's voice was so faint but so honest, and Zack stared at him for a short moment before he burst into tears, holding Freddy close and sobbing against tousled blonde hair. "You can't die," he sobbed. "You can't. I _need _you here…..I _need _you."

"…………why?"

Zack looked down and found very serious wide brown eyes staring up at him, no trace of pain or depression in them now, no desire to die, just patience as he sat and waited for an answer. And looking into those clear, weary but uncomplaining brown eyes, Zack found the answer a lot easier then he ever thought it would be.

"…I love you," he whispered, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I _love _you."

Something like a smile flitted across Freddy's face. "I'm so glad, Zack…I love you too…" his voice faded, his eyes slid shut, and the weight of his body sagged heavily in Zack's arms. Zack's eyes widened, horror on his face.

"No…Freddy…." He felt the pulse growing weaker. "You can't go….I love you. I _love _you." There was no change in Freddy's pulse and Zack pulled Freddy close, sobbing harder. _It should have made everything better....but it didn't. It didn't help at _**all**No matter how much love he felt, it wouldn't save Freddy….and if not then what good was it?

Moments later, the EMTs entered the room to find Zack overcome with sobbing, clutching the unconscious form of his best friend close to his heart in a room painted red with blood. Crumpled in Zack's now bloody hand was the suicide note, only three words visible between Zack's shaking fingers. "zack…love you."

tbc


	6. Hold Me

**A/N:** To any of you who were wondering last chapter, no, Freddy had not been there bleeding for an hour or so. Zack was gone for an hour, but that doesn't necessarily mean Freddy slit his wrists immediately after Zack left. Cause yeah, slowly bleeding to death for an hour and a half (this chapter adds another half hour) is a bit much. I never really intended it to be that way, but I can see how people took it that way. Yeah.

Yeah, I hope you all like this chapter, cause it was extremely hard to write. I've never actually tried to kill myself, but I've had a lot of depression issues in the past with cutting and shit and I'm still getting over them, and my parents found out last year and it was really really fucking hard. My dad cried…..terrible. Just terrible. So this one took a while cause I nearly cried a few times writing it. Which makes me a pathetic mental case, I know, but Jason made me think of my dad and my dad crying makes me cry. My dad doesn't cry. Blah. Sorry. Don't mean to get so emotional. Just wanted to apologize for the delay and I really sincerely hope you like it, cause yeah…..it was really fucking hard to write.

**DISCLAIMER:** School of Rock belongs to Mike White and Jack Black and all those other cool people. Does anyone else think it's odd that they're named White and Black? Maybe that's just me. The actors belong to themselves. The characters belong to all those fine people I mentioned previously. The quote "Oh, well good, I'm glad you are!" belongs to Stanley Tucci and the other fine people who worked on The Imposters (and if you haven't ever seen that movie, DO SO. Fucking hilarious.). I just borrowed it without meaning to and then realized it sounded awfully familiar. It didn't take me long to figure out where I'd heard it, but I had to use it. If you see the movie and hear the way that line is said, it's totally perfect Zack.

**CLAIMER:** Uncle David. I gave Freddy an Uncle David for two reasons. First, I have an Uncle David and he is THE hoopiest frood ever. For those of you who do not know The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, that is THE highest compliment anyone can give. Cause David is the sassiest person ever, and where I get my wunderbar and fucked up sense of humor. The second reason for Freddy having an Uncle David is that someone and I (I think it was Rachel, Quillow here at ) used to say that EVERYONE had an Uncle David. I think Kaitlin was in on that, too. But yeah, most people I know have an Uncle David. So hey, if you have one, put it in the review, k? It'll be cool to see who else has one.

**NOTES:** At one point, Zack mentions a three hour drive. No, the hospital is not three hours from their home, obviously, cause the ambulance reached them in like, five minutes in the last chapter. They live about five to ten minutes from the hospital, but Zack just uses the three hour drive phrase as another silly excuse. You'll see what I mean, I hope, but I wanted to clear it up just in case.

This is the longest chapter yet, coming in at a whopping 38 pages in Microsoft. Woot! Be excited! Yeah, I got a bit carried away, but this is just one of those chapters that can't really be cut off. So it's all one big long thing and I hope you enjoy it! tosses cookie sticks to the nice readers Does anyone remember cookie sticks? Made by Keebler for a short time, came in chocolate chip, peanut butter and sugar cookie flavors? Oh, MAN, those sugar cookies were the BEST! I have memories of eating them and having my dog Auggie crawling all over me like "GIVE ME THE FUCKING COOKIE STICK!" and I'm like "FUCK NO! MINE!" Ahem. Not that any of you either needed or wanted to know that. Yeah. I'll shut up now.

**DEDICATION:** To Mystik-chan, who left the greatest/craziest review. Woot for you! You seemed quite into the last chappie and in finding out what happens next, plus your review made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So this one's for you.

**SHOUTOUTS:** To **Mark of CTown**- I will endeavor to read your fic as soon as possible. Sorry, sorry, I have been so _completely _remiss in my fanfic reading duties lately. I've been so busy that any free time I have goes to writing fanfic. Honestly, between schoolwork and my job, I really have no life. Writing is the only thing I've been doing for myself lately. I haven't even been watching MOVIES, and if you know me, you know that's scary. I haven't been to the movies since August. Live in fear! The apocalypse IS coming! But yeah, I'll read it soon, I swear.

**GaBoO**- yeah, Freddy and Draco do look kinda alike, hehe. Glad you think so, too. And I'm extremely flattered that you read my ficlet without having seen the movie! Though see it you must, for it is truly wunderbar!

And of course also to **SweetTweet00**, **driven to insanity**, **blondehottness**, **Chinsky**, and my dahhhhling** PFB**. I'd write out individual messages to all of you, but this is getting to be a ridiculously long note. You will all most definitely be top of the list next time…..cept possibly **PFB**. Cause she already knows I love her. Teasing, Carrie, just teasing!

And now, without any further ridiculous ado…..on to the

**FICLET!**

* * *

Zack sat uncomfortably in the waiting room, back stiff and rigid as he waited for a doctor to make an appearance on the scene. Freddy had been rushed into the back and Zack was apparently dirty, too dirty to enter the sterilized room. His leg jiggled as he bounced his foot up and down anxiously. The doctor had told him that as soon as Freddy was stabilized, Zack could go back and see him. So far, he hadn't seen another glimpse of the doctor. He checked his watch again. Thirty-six minutes. Thirty-six minutes the man had been gone. Zack was beginning to panic.

The doors pushed open and Zack was on his feet in an instant, walking over to the doctor slowly, dreading hearing the final answer on the question that could either make or destroy his life. He stopped a foot or so away. "……well?" he asked, barely forming the words, voice just above a whisper. "How is he?"

The doctor smiled. "Your friend is just fine."

Zack let out a huge breath that he hadn't realized he was holding, and his knees buckled beneath him, dropping him unceremoniously to the floor. He sat there silently, feeling his heart slowly returning to its normal routine instead of pounding through his chest like it had been since he found Freddy earlier that day. The doctor crouched down in front of him and Zack looked up with wide, disoriented eyes.

"…are you okay?" the man asked. Zack nodded slowly, tiredly. "Would you like to go in and see him?"

Zack's eyes welled up with tears and he nodded again. Two tears escaped and slid slowly down his face. The man smiled sympathetically.

"Don't worry…he'll be fine." His eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly found his arms full of quietly crying Zack.

"Thank you," Zack whispered, able to speak at last.

"Don't mention it," the doctor replied. Zack released his tight grip and rubbed at the tears in his eyes. "He's asleep," the man continued, "but he should wake up soon. You can still see him, if you want."

"Yes," Zack said, letting the word out in a sigh. "Yes."

"Right this way." The man lead Zack down several curving hallways and then stepped into a room, pushing the curtain aside to reveal Freddy, sound asleep with the covers pulled up to his chest. His hair was a mess, bits of it stiff with dried blood, but all blood had been wiped from his skin. Eyes shut, lashes tracing patterns on his pale skin, cheeks just slightly tinged pink, Freddy had a very angelic look about him…until one saw the thick bandages around his wrists. Zack took a deep breath, then walked over to the bed and sat down in the chair next to it, eyes never leaving Freddy's face.

"You just going to stay here until he's up?" the doctor asked. Zack nodded.

"If that's alright…?"

"Oh, yes. Definitely." The man smiled. "I'll leave you two alone." Backing up, he pulled the curtain shut again, but not before he saw Zack gently take one of Freddy's hands in his and, leaning forwards, press a soft kiss to Freddy's cheek. The man smiled a small, touched sort of smile before pulling the curtain shut and leaving.

An hour later, Zack was still sitting there, staring at Freddy's sleeping form, the blonde's hand in his own. He wanted Freddy to wake up, but he also didn't…when the blonde woke up it meant he had to try to convince Freddy to forgive him for everything that had happened…and he didn't want to. Not at all. He was so completely terrified that Freddy wouldn't be able to do it.

A bit of movement to his left, and Zack nearly jumped. It was Freddy, turning a bit, a small moan escaping his lips. Zack waited with baited breath as slowly, Freddy opened his eyes halfway.

"….Zack?"

"Yes, it's me, Freddy."

"…..what're you doing?"

"Waiting for you to wake up."

"…..how long have I been asleep?"

"…about two hours."

"Really?" Freddy sounded surprised, even though he could barely speak above a whisper. He looked around suddenly, brow furrowing in confusion. "…where am I?"

"……………………………………the hospital."

"What?!" There was a pause and then, "…oh yeah." Freddy glanced at his wrists, then reproachfully up at Zack. "Why did you stop me?"

Zack took a deep breath. "I don't want you to die, Freddy….I want you to stay here with me."

"Why?"

"……..I meant what I said, earlier, Freddy, I don't know if you remember it. I love you." There was a pause; Zack couldn't meet Freddy's gaze. Instead he played idly with the bedspread. "I think I always have. And I was an asshole; I know I was an asshole. I can't even begin to express to you how ridiculously sorry I am for all the shitty things I said to you after you told me about…about…" he didn't want to say the words so he just pressed right on. "It shouldn't have mattered, because it doesn't, it doesn't matter. All that matters is you…and I love you. I came back to apologize and I saw you…and the blood….and…I knew then that…it was my fault, it was all my fault. And that if you died…there would be no kind of life left for me with you gone."

Freddy stared at Zack, no real expression on his face, just watching the brunette very seriously. Zack pressed hurriedly on.

"And I don't know that you can forgive me, Freddy, but I just want you to know that I mean it, I mean every word of it. And I don't blame you if you can't forgive me, really I don't, cause I was a total ass and I deserve to have you hate me, but I had to say I'm sorry. And I'm sorry if you're mad at me for bringing you here, but I had to do that too, because I love you. And I don't think I could cope if you died."

Zack looked up at Freddy, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I love you," he managed, the words coming out in a harsh sob. "I love you, Freddy."

Freddy stared at Zack for a moment, and then something like a smile flitted across his lips. "Where have you been all my life, loser?" he whispered. A disbelieving smile spread quickly across Zack's face and then he was on the bed, half in Freddy's lap as he sobbed gratefully against Freddy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry," he sobbed.

"Don't be, Zack…don't be," Freddy said softly, fingers running soothingly through Zack's hair. "It's not your fault. This was a long time in coming"

Zack looked up at Freddy with wide, tear-filled eyes. "Why?" he asked, voice very confused. "Why would you ever want to do this to yourself?"

"……I don't know," Freddy said uncomfortably. "I've never really known. I've actually always felt kind of bad for feeling like this…for being so depressed. I mean, there are so many other people who have such better reasons for being depressed. I have both my parents…they love me and I love them. They don't beat me. I don't do terribly in school and I'm fairly popular."

"Popular?" Zack echoed, one eyebrow arched. "Freddy, every kid in school wants to be you or fuck you…or both."

"…at once?" Freddy asked teasingly.

Zack laughed. "Maybe."

"Hmm…" Freddy mused. "I think that would be considered masturbation." Zack laughed again, sliding a bit closer to Freddy, and there was a long pause before Freddy continued. "I mean…you see what I mean? There are so many people who have it worse than me…what right do I have to be depressed?"

"Freddy, you have every right," Zack said softly. "Some people are just depressed for no real reason. They can't help it."

A long pause. "…why do you think that is?" Freddy's soft voice seemed loud in the silent room.

"…I don't know," Zack said. "I think a lot of the time it's because these people are just too unique and amazing for the rest of us. They are far more extraordinary than the everyday people on this earth, so they require extraordinary lives…and when they only get boring, normal, everyday lives…they feel that longing for something more…and they just don't know what to do about it. They feel trapped, so they deal with it in the only ways they can think of, even though they're often not good ways."

Freddy was silent for a long time. "…are you calling me extraordinary?" he asked at last.

"………Freddy, you are the most extraordinary person I have every met," Zack said, flushing slightly as he said it. "You're just plain amazing." Looking at Freddy, Zack was surprised to see the usually unflusterable Freddy Jones was turning rather pink just across the bridge of his nose. "Why, Frederick Jones!" he exclaimed. "Are you blushing?"

"Most certainly not," Freddy muttered, his evasion just making him blush even more. "And that's not true. You're the really amazing one. You have it so much worse than me. Your dad is always in a pissy mood and your mom is never there. You have to do all the cooking and the cleaning and you never complain…well, rarely complain. You're a fucking genius, Zack, and you still have time to help me out despite all your work. Honestly…if anyone's extraordinary, its you."

"Whatever, Jones, you're so totally wrong." Zack glanced up at Freddy, serious look on his face not quite able to hide the loving smile written in his eyes. "I love you," he whispered. Freddy smiled.

"I love you too."

Zack swatted Freddy's shoulder gently. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear?"

Freddy kissed Zack, a slow, lingering, reassuring kiss. "I won't ever need to," he said softly. "As long as I have you, I have everything."

Zack's eyes were still filled with tears, but they were no longer tears of sadness. He kissed Freddy again, and the doctor walked into the room. Stopping in the doorway, he shuffled his feet and coughed. Zack jumped about a foot; Freddy laughed.

"I see you're awake," the man said, smile on his face. "How do you feel?"

"Eh…not too bad," Freddy said, taking Zack's hand. The brunette was currently the color of a tomato.

"Not too much pain?"

"Um…." Freddy lifted his free hand and wiggled his wrist about, promptly wincing. "OW, uh, that'd be a yes, I think."

"Okay…I'll have them send you in some painkillers when they bring your food, alright?"

"Okay, thanks."

Turning to go, the doctor smiled at the still red Zack. "Try not to tire him out," he said teasingly. Zack blushed even more, if that was possible, and stammered some gibberish at the man, who chuckled and left. Freddy immediately began giggling.

"Dork."

"I am not."

"Are too." Freddy grabbed Zack's collar, dragging the brunette down to lie next to him again. "He's gone…chill."

Zack relaxed, his body pressing against Freddy's. Freddy laid his head on Zack's shoulder and pressed a kiss to the brunette's cheek. "Sleep," he said. Both boys were fast asleep within a few minutes.

A nurse entered bearing a tray full of food, a small cup of pills on one side. Seeing the two boys curled up together, she smiled, pausing to watch them for a moment before setting the tray down on the side table and leaving.

The two boys slept on, completely oblivious to all the hustle and bustle of the doctors and patients in the corridors. Nearly an hour later, the sound of rapid footsteps echoed down the hallway and the curtain was shoved aside, revealing Freddy's parents, looking incredibly flustered. Eileen was still crying, her hair a tousled mess, and Jason looked as though he had just barely gotten his own tears under control. They froze in place when they saw Freddy and Zack in bed together, bodies curled close together, fingers entwined. Eileen turned slowly, and looked at Jason, eyes only slightly surprised.

"Are they….do you think they're….?" She didn't finish the question, but it was obvious what she meant.

"No," he said automatically. "No, they…." He paused, staring at the two boys. "They very well could be," he said at last.

Eileen walked over to where Jason was now standing over the two sleeping boys. "Are you…okay with that?"

There was a long pause and then Jason sighed. "Yes," he said finally. "Yes, I am. I wouldn't have thought I would be…but…I am. Especially if it's Zack." Staring down at the boys, he gently brushed a lock of hair out of Freddy's eyes. A fluttering of eyelids and then big brown eyes slid halfway open.

"…dad?"

Seeing Freddy awake, Jason's eyes started tearing up again and he coughed to clear his throat. "Yes, it's me."

"…mom?"

"Yes." Unlike her husband, Eileen couldn't suppress the tears at all. Freddy smiled weakly up at them.

"…I love you guys."

Eileen sank into the chair Zack had previously occupied, sobbing freely now. Freddy took her hand, his own eyes welling up. "Don't cry, mom, please." Of course that didn't help any. Before either was quite aware of it, both were crying freely, Eileen holding Freddy's free hand tightly between her flat, shaking palms, forehead to the place where their hands met as she wept. Freddy wanted to comfort her somehow and softly gently tugged his other hand out of Zack's grasp so he could run his fingers soothingly through her soft blonde hair. Fortunately, this seemed to calm Eileen down somewhat, for she lifted her head and smiled shakily at Freddy with tears still in her eyes. Unfortunately all the commotion finally woke Zack.

The brunette shifted slightly, a tiny moan escaping his lips. Freddy glanced over, unable to suppress the affectionate smile that flew onto his lips, a smile which did not go unnoticed by either parent. Reaching out, he tousled Zack's already messy bangs. Slowly, Zack's eyes slid slightly open and he smiled at Freddy, a contented sort of sound escaping as he stretched, arms up over his head. Then he noticed Freddy's parents and was sitting up in less than two seconds, wide awake now as he stared in shock. There was a long moment's silence as all four people stared at each other. Eileen and Jason stared at Zack, who stared right back, trying hard not to blush and knowing he was bright red. Freddy kept looking back and forth between all of them, grinning like a madman. Zack glanced at him. In hindsight, it should probably be Freddy who looked the most upset, considering he was the one who just nearly died. Finally, Zack cleared his throat, determined to break the silence.

"Eileen…Jason……..hi."

"Hello, Zack," Eileen said, that tremulous smile a bit less shaky now, a bit more natural.

"I…" Zack knew that he had to come up with a good explanation for how he was the one to find Freddy, why he hadn't called them in person instead of letting a doctor do it, and most of all why he had been found asleep in bed with their son. He couldn't think of a single excuse. "…I know this must look…rather…….odd."

A long, awkward silence. Zack turned and looked at Freddy for some sort of encouragement and Freddy smiled. That clinched it. That just clinched the whole damn affair. Zack turned and looked straight at Freddy's parents.

"…I'm in love with your son," he said, and then let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Next to him, Freddy's eyes were the size of dinner plates and he was slack jawed in astonishment. Then, slowly, a huge smile spread across his face. He stared silently at Zack, waiting for more. "And…and I know that's an odd thing to tell you," Zack continued, voice very shaky. "But I wanted to. Because I mean it. I honestly do mean it, more than I've ever meant anything in my life. And you may think less of me for this, you may hate me…hell, I don't know, you may even tell me I can't see him again. I don't know what you'll do, I don't know. But I don't care. I just…I wanted to tell you what I feel. And I don't care if it changes how you think of me, I don't care I don't care I don't care, because I am honestly so God damned in love with this boy."

Freddy's parents were quiet, and a hush fell over the room, only the sounds from the hallway breaking the stillness at all. Freddy sat next to Zack, unmoving. He watched Zack silently, huge beautiful smile gracing his lips. Only if one looked extremely closely could they have seen the tears in his eyes. Without saying a word, Freddy reached over and tangled his fingers with Zack's. If anyone noticed, they didn't say anything, just continued to sit in silence. Finally, Jason cleared his throat, breaking the silence. His eyes seemed locked on the spot where Freddy and Zack's hands were entwined.

"…Freddy?" he managed. That was it. Just one word, but it spoke volumes. Freddy took a deep breath and smiled as bravely as he could, scooting a little closer to Zack.

"…well….I'm not as good with words as he is……but yeah," he looked straight at his dad. "I feel the same way about him."

There were another few moments of silence, though not as long this time. Jason took a deep breath. "Okay," he said at last. Freddy brightened a bit, looking very calculatingly at his father.

"….okay?" he echoed. Jason smiled.

"Okay."

Freddy's eyes widened, an incredulous but ridiculously happy smile overcoming his face as he threw himself forward, hugging his father so tightly and violently that the man nearly fell over. He laughed, returning the hug.

"I love you, dad," Freddy whispered, unable to hold the tears back any more. Jason looked to be having some problems controlling his emotions as well.

"I love you, too," he said softly, voice very gruff and thick with emotion. He released his hold on Freddy, tousling the messy blond hair. "Your mother and I have some paperwork to fill out so that we can get you out of here and back home, so we'll be back in a while….you get some sleep now, you hear?"

"Okay."

Jason smiled at Zack. "You too," he said. Zack returned the smile as best he could; he was still having a bit of trouble adjusting to all that just happened. Jason turned and left, Eileen following him, stopping for a moment to give Freddy a hug and a kiss of her own.

"I love you," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek. Freddy whispered the words back to her. Then, she moved on to Zack. Before he knew what was happening, Eileen had pulled him close and kissed his cheek as well.

"You too," she said softly. "I love you, too."

Zack's eyes widened in surprise and he couldn't control the tears that sprang to his eyes. "…I….I love you too," he managed, choking. He couldn't remember the last time that someone…a parental figure…had said those words to him.

Eileen pulled back, the sympathetic and loving smile on her face saying that she knew what he was thinking. Kissing him gently on the forehead, she turned and left.

Zack was silent and unmoving next to Freddy, staring dead ahead as he had been when Eileen left. Freddy was starting to worry a little. "….Zack?"

Slowly, Zack turned and looked at Freddy, eyes brimming with tears. "Zack!" Freddy pulled the brunette close. "Zack, what is it?"

"I…your mom said she loves me."

Freddy laughed. "That's what this is? Isn't that a good thing, though?"

Zack was silent. "I can't remember the last time my mom or dad said that to me."

"…….oh."

"Yeah."

Freddy couldn't think of a thing to say. "Well…" he began awkwardly. "…_I _love you…if that's any consolation."

Zack smiled up at him. "That means more than both my parents love put together ever could."

Freddy took Zack's hands in his own, lifting them to his face and gently kissing Zack's fingertips. "I've always wanted to do that," he murmured. "Ever since I first heard you play guitar."

"Liar."

"It's true!" Freddy insisted.

"Freddy…that would have to be in like, third grade!"

"………………." Freddy didn't say a word. Zack stared at him, incredulous look on his face.

"….you've had a crush on me since third grade?"

Freddy didn't look up from where his fingers were nervously fiddling with the bed sheets. A huge grin was spreading quickly over Zack's face. "You DID!" he exclaimed. Freddy nodded once, his cheeks aflame, and Zack burst out laughing. "Oh, Freddy, that is just too much!"

"Yeah, well," Freddy muttered. "You're special."

The laughter ceased, leaving Zack stunned silent and staring in astonishment at Freddy, eyes wide. "…you…really have had a crush on me since third grade?" he asked. Freddy nodded again. "Since when? I mean…when did you realize that?"

"…the first day of school….when I transferred to Horace Green. Everyone made fun of me for my ADD, remember? And you…you came over and asked if you could sit with me…actually _asked_…as though I would have refused company at that point. And you were so nice to me." His cheeks were stained pink. Zack could remember everything that had happened that day as if it had been yesterday. Everyone had been so mean to Freddy…little hyper-ass blond kid with an attitude problem and a complete inability to sit still for more then five seconds. He felt as though he was melting into a gushy puddle right then and there, to know that Freddy- silly, goofy, foul-mouthed, un-romantic Freddy- had had a crush on Zack since the first day they had met.

"And then in music class when I heard you play…" Freddy seemed to be having a difficult time putting the words together the way he wanted them. "I was just….amazed. You're so damn good. Seriously, Zack, music just flows out of you like….I don't know what. I'm no poet. All I know is that the first time I heard you play…I wanted to cry. And to hold those hands and just…" he gestured helplessly. "…kiss them. And I've thought the same thing every time I've heard you play since then."

There was a long silence. Freddy was a brilliant shade of vermillion red and Zack was too stunned to say a thing. Finally, Freddy glanced up from under a mess of blonde hair. "…aren't you even going to say something?"

Instead of a vocal response, he got Zack in his lap and the most intense kiss he had ever experienced. He froze at first, too surprised to do anything but sit there and let Zack do…ridiculously heavenly things to his mouth. And all he could think was _where the merry fuck did Mooneyham ever learn to kiss like that? _

And then there were Zack's hands up under his shirt, teasing up his chest and Zack nipped at his lip and GOD that was it…Freddy bit back a moan, fingers tangling in thick brown hair. Then, memories came back and he pulled back, gently tugging Zack off him. The brunette looked at him, confused. "Wait a minute," Freddy said breathlessly. "What is this?"

"What do you mean?" Zack's fingers were itching to move their way back up Freddy's shirt, but he, unlike Freddy, had some self control, and managed to stay still.

"What about…about…"

"…about?" Zack cocked his head to one side, waiting. Freddy's face was red again and he looked away.

"I'm a fucking whore, Zack….I mean….I'm not going to do it anymore…but _still_. I've done it. It's disgusting, and….and so am I."

Zack stared at Freddy and wanted to cry when he saw the utter anguish written on the blonde's face, knowing he had caused some of it by his attitude earlier. "Freddy, I told you it doesn't matter, and I meant it. It doesn't matter at all. You are the only thing that matters to me."

"But I'm disgusting," Freddy said insistently. There was a pause. "….I'm _disgusting_," he whispered, still unable to look Zack in the eye.

"Freddy, no you're not." Zack said forcefully. "You're _not_."

Freddy looked up at last, dark eyes staring at Zack, hoping against hope to be talked out of this point of view. "…then what am I?"

Zack stared at Freddy for only a moment before leaning in and kissing him. "You're _beautiful_," he whispered. And then that was it. Freddy's eyes were shiny with unshed tears and he just melted into Zack, pulling the brunette into him and kissing him fiercely.

"I love you," Freddy whispered, hands tracing gently down Zack's face, "so…fucking…much."

"I love you too," Zack answered, hands already slipping back underneath Freddy's shirt. Freddy's response was to slide his fingers through Zack's belt loops and to unceremoniously haul the brunette into his lap. Zack ended up on his knees straddling Freddy's hips, laughing as he nearly lost his balance. "Freddy," he managed, barely getting the word in around all the kisses Freddy was lavishing on him. "Freddy….not…DAMN, Freddy!" The latter came as Freddy's hands found their way down Zack's pants and onto his ass. "Freddy….your parents could come in at any….ahh…" He couldn't finish the sentence, no matter how hard he tried; Freddy seemed determined to keep him quiet by any means necessary, including (it would seem), nipping harshly at the soft flesh of his throat. Zack moaned, knowing he should really stop Freddy; instead his head tilted to the side to allow the blonde better access to his throat. "Freddy," he breathed. "I…"

"Yeah?" Freddy asked the question and obviously didn't expect an answer, for he pulled Zack into him with greater force, pressing their bodies harshly together so that their hips clashed forcibly. Zack bit back a gasp.   
"DAMMIT, Freddy!" But even he knew that he wasn't really objecting. He pressed forward into Freddy, looking for more friction. "Mmm," he hummed, "…I guess you and I won't be having any sleepovers any time soon, huh?"

"Why do you say that?" Freddy asked, barely getting the words out through his breathlessness.

"Well…your parents know about…us. And I doubt they'll be too happy if their son's boyfriend comes to stay over."

Freddy paused, glancing up at Zack. "….boyfriend?" he asked. Zack immediately froze, turning bright red.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Stupid thing to say." He focused his attention downward. Bad idea. All it did was show him not only his own raging hard-on, but Freddy's also, which only got him more riled up. He shut his eyes tightly.

"…….do you want to be my boyfriend?"

Zack's eyes shot open immediately and his head snapped up; he looked at Freddy in surprise, surprise which quickly became a very cautious and calculating look. "…are you just asking me if I _want _to date you or are you actually asking me to go out with you?"

There was a pause. "….I'm asking if you'll go out with me, you silly bint!" Freddy said. "Sheesh!" he exclaimed in mock disgust. "As though there was any question about that!"

Zack smiled in relief, laughing at Freddy. "Of course!"

Freddy laughed then as well, tangling his fingers with Zack's. "So we're official now?"

"Most definitely."

Freddy leaned in close to Zack. "Excellent," he breathed, then kissed Zack again. "And…as to the matter of sleepovers…."

"…yeah?"

"The sleepovers will most definitely continue," Freddy murmured, "even if I have to climb that fucking ivy to get into your room….even if we have to barricade the fucking door…._even_," and here his voice took on a much more serious and determined tone, "if we have to go camping for it to happen…" Zack couldn't help but laugh at that. "…no matter what….we'll make it fucking happen."

Zack smiled. "Good." He leaned in to kiss Freddy again when there was a commotion at the door. Completely panicking, Zack attempted to roll off of Freddy. However, he forgot about Freddy's hands being down his pants and ended up half falling over backwards. This resulted in him getting tangled in the bed sheets and falling with a startled cry to the floor. He made a last desperate grab for the end table and only succeeded in grabbing the end of Freddy's dinner tray and dragging it down with him, upturning it so that food fell all over the floor and, consequently, all over him.

Eyes shut tightly, Zack waited for a reaction of some kind. He didn't have long to wait. Hysterical laughter reached his ears…laughter he recognized immediately as Freddy's. Opening his eyes, he sat up and scowled at Freddy. _Plop._ A big pile of mashed potatoes dripped off his head and into his eyes, totally ruining the effect of his death glare. Freddy's laughter seemed to double in volume and hysteria and Zack scowled as best he could with gravy dripping into his eyes. He wiped the gravy off his face and rubbed it onto his pants, which did little to help the situation.

"…having a little trouble, are we, Zack?"

Turning to the door, he saw Freddy's parents AND the doctor. _I wanna die,_ he thought silently. "Just a bit, sir."

Jason smiled. "Looks it." Walking over, he gave Zack a hand up and the brunette brushed himself off as best he could, mashed potatoes and peas falling to the floor and making an absolute mess.

"You alright son?" the doctor asked. "Didn't get hurt, did you?"

"Just my Dignity," Zack mumbled. "I think I killed it."

"Who are you kidding?" Freddy teased. "You never had any to begin with."

Zack shot Freddy another death glare. "Yes, thank you Freddy, that's incredibly helpful of you."

Freddy grinned. "I know."

"Well, the doctor says you can come home, Freddy, so why don't we get you out of here?"

"Okay…what do we have to do?"

"Well, you have to put some pants on," Jason said, very bemused look on his face as he stared at Freddy's state of undress. Freddy glanced down and saw just his boxers…he had completely failed to notice that his pants had been removed at some point.

"OH….hey…what happened to my pants?" he asked, equally confused as his father.

"They were….a bit bloody," the doctor said. "They were taken off when you were brought in."

"….I was stripped by total strangers?" Freddy asked, one eyebrow arched.

"….yes…"

Freddy pondered this for a moment. "…kinky." Eileen gave him a swat to the back of the head. "HEY!"

"Behave yourself."

"I am!" he insisted. "I would be misbehaving if I pantsed Mooneyham," he said. Zack turned a terrific shade of red. "But commenting on the kinky reasons behind my lack of pants is not at all misbehaving!"

Eileen sighed. "Freddy?"

"Yeah?"

"….shut up."

"…okay." Freddy grinned. "So, what do I do about my…pant-less situation?"

"We have some hospital issue pajamas for you," the doctor said, holding up a pair of blue and white striped pajama pants.

"Groovy," Freddy said, taking and inspecting the pants.

"And your mother and father have to sign the release papers."

"Fantastic."

"So…will you be alright alone for a few minutes?"

"Sure thing," Freddy said. "I'll have Zack help me put my pants on. He's good at that." Freddy glanced at Zack, grinning, and the brunette looked as though he wanted to melt into the floor.

Jason was obviously trying to suppress a smile. "As long as he's not helping you take anything off."

…..Zack was approximately the color of a tomato. Freddy looked as though his face would split in two from grinning. "No, we'll be saving that one for later tonight."

Jason coughed as though to suppress a laugh and Eileen gave Freddy a Look. "That's what _you_ think, young man." Turning to leave, she tried to give Zack a Look as well, but failed as it turned into a smile. "Behave yourselves," she said, pointing an admonishing finger at each boy in turn. The three adults exited again, and Zack slowly turned wide, evil eyes on Freddy, who did a double take.

"Whaaaaaaaaat?" Freddy whined.

"How can you….why did you…." He punched Freddy's shoulder as hard as he could. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT?"

"Hey, they already know about us," Freddy said defensively. "There's no point in trying to cover stuff up. Believe me, with my parents it'll be much better to just joke about it…it will make everything much better that way." The two stared at each other, Zack seeing Freddy's point but not wanting to admit it. "Now," Freddy said, "you going to help me put these pants on…or aren't you?"

"……can't you do it yourself?"

"………………..I'd rather have you do it."

Zack felt himself flushing again. But he took the pants out of Freddy's hands, silently cursing himself when his hands started shaking. He helped the blonde put the pants on, one leg at a time, then very very slowly tugging them up over Freddy's slim hips, and gently tying them at the waist, making very sure that the entire time he was putting the pants on his fingers traced over Freddy's legs, teasing lightly across bare skin. He noted with some satisfaction as he pulled the drawstring tight that Freddy's hands were shaking. Slowly, he raised his head until his eyes locked with Freddy's. The blonde stared back with dark brown eyes full of heat and a desire that Zack understood all too well.

"……..thanks," Freddy whispered at last.

Zack leaned in. "Don't mention it," he said softly, breath warm on Freddy's face before he leaned in and kissed the blonde. Guitar callused fingers traced along Freddy's face and then through blonde hair, pressing against his scalp. Freddy let out a pretty sort of sigh, allowing his head to rest on Zack's shoulders.

"God," he said softly.

"Yeah," Zack murmured, still pressing kisses to Freddy's bare skin.

"How many times have we done this the past few days?"

Zack laughed. "I don't know," he said. "But we're teenagers with crazy hormones….we're entitled."

Freddy chuckled, his laughter teasing along Zack's throat and sending shivers down his back. "Oh yeah? Well, in that case…" Zack suddenly found himself pulled forward, thighs pressed to the cold metal of the bed as Freddy wrapped his legs about Zack's waist, pulling the brunette roughly up against him for fully body contact. He laughed, kissing Freddy again.

"You'll use any excuse for sex, won't you?" he teased.

Freddy arched an eyebrow. "Who mentioned sex?" he asked. "Not me. Why, Mooneyham? D'you want to have sex with me?"

Zack froze, staring at Freddy in utter surprise. Freddy stared very seriously back. "What did you say?" Zack asked, stalling for time.

"I said doyouwanttohavesexwithme?" Freddy repeated very slowly, as though speaking to a dimwitted child. Zack stared.

"…what, right now?"

Freddy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure my parents would love that, walking back in on the two of us fucking like rabbits," he said sarcastically. "No, of course not now," he murmured, arms wrapping possessively about Zack's neck. "….later."

Zack stared down into those big brown eyes and found his mouth was too dry to say a word. This was all moving a little too fast for him. It had only been two days since he and Freddy had first kissed, since he had found out about the drugs and the prostitution and then Freddy had slit his wrists and now…..and now…. He stared into Freddy's eyes and thought about it, truly thought about it. True, it had only been two days since they had kissed…but how many years had it been that they had been friends? How many years was it that he had wanted to kiss Freddy? How long had it been since he realized that he wanted Freddy to be more than just a friend?

He thought of the past few days and how they had been the best days of his life. Kissing Freddy for the first time was like some unimaginable dream. It was the culmination of everything he had ever hoped for but never thought to possess. And then that night after dinner….he flushed with the memory, but knew that it had felt…right. It had felt good. And he knew in his heart that if he was to have sex with anyone, he wanted it to be Freddy.

"…I…"

Freddy waited expectantly.

"….I don't know, Freddy." Zack felt a pain in his chest when he saw the way Freddy's eyes looked, taken aback, slightly wounded, and realized what Freddy was thinking. "No, it's not that," he said hurriedly. "It's not anything to do with you, Freddy, honestly. I'm just….." he sighed. "I'm not ready yet. But…when it does happen……I want it to be with you."

Freddy's face brightened considerably. "I'm so glad," he said, leaning in to rest his head on Zack's shoulder again. "I thought…"

"I know," Zack said softly.

"I thought it was me," Freddy whispered. "I thought you didn't want me because of…of…"

Zack held Freddy at arms length, placing a silencing finger over his lips. "Listen: I meant what I said earlier. I was stupid to ever think that could make a difference. It doesn't. You are the only thing that matters to me, Freddy Jones. You're sweet…and thoughtful….and funny…and the most beautiful person I have ever met." Zack stared at a very surprised and touched Freddy. "I love you, Freddy," he whispered.

Freddy managed a lopsided smile before kissing Zack. "I love you too," he whispered, lips brushing gently against Zack's as he spoke.

The curtain was pushed aside and the adults came back in with a wheelchair, but not before the two boys could move apart. "Well well well," Jason said, shaking his head in mock disapproval. "Can't you two keep your hands off each other?"

Freddy grinned and pulled Zack close to him, fingers running through long brown hair. "Zack loves me," he said, grin on his face bigger than any smile he had been seen with in the past few years. Jason couldn't help but smile.

"So we've been told," he said. Freddy kissed Zack on the cheek; Zack couldn't help but blush but he didn't try to pull back. Instead his arms looped about Freddy's waist, tugging the blonde even closer. "You ready to go?"

"Sure on, then, wheelchair time."

Freddy looked over at Zack and batted his eyes. "Carry me?"

Zack rolled his eyes and heaved a big fake sigh, but he scooped Freddy into his arms and carried him over to the wheelchair. Jason glanced down at the still-smiling blonde. "May I ask just why that was necessary?" he asked.

Freddy grinned. "Oh, I just like having Zack carry me about." He beckoned his father to bend over so he could whisper in his ear, then stage whispered loud enough for the whole room to hear: "He's my man-slave."

"Oh, really?' Jason was trying not to snicker. "Is that so, Zack?"

"Pfffft, in his dreams."

Jason couldn't control the laughter any more. "Looks like you lose, Freddy." He moved behind the wheelchair and began pushing it out of the room. "Come on…let's get going."

They weren't moving for long. Out in the hallway the doctor stopped them again with some extra bandages and some last minute instructions. Freddy, impatient to go, soon came up with an idea.

"Hey dad?"

"Mmm?"

"Can Zack push the wheelchair for me?"

"No, Freddy. As much fun as I'm sure you two would have with that, I think it's for the good of the whole hospital if a responsible adult takes care of that," Jason said dryly before turning his attention back to the doctor and the conversation picked up again. Freddy glanced at Zack and faked a huge sigh; Zack responded with an apologetic shrug. A few moments passed. Freddy the ADD boy grew incredibly bored. Even Zack was acting a bit antsy.

Freddy glanced over his shoulder to make sure the "responsible adults" weren't paying attention. He peeked up at Zack and stared until the brunette glanced his way. "Push me," he hissed.

"Freddy….I can't," Zack whispered back, glancing nervously at the adults.

"Just a bit," Freddy pleaded. Zack sighed.

"Oh, al_RIGHT_." He began pushing Freddy very slowly down the hallway, desperate to avoid drawing any attention to the two of them.

"Zack? Freddy? Where are you going?" Jason's voice floated down the hallway. Zack froze and looked at Freddy for further instruction. The blond returned the look with a mischievous grin.

"Run."

"_What_?!"

"You heard me," Freddy said. "RUN!"

"….Freddy….I _can't!_" Zack looked panicked; behind them, Freddy's parents were starting towards them.

"Come ON, Zack, when are you going to get this chance again?"

There was a moment's pause as Zack considered what Freddy was saying. Then, a smile spread across his face. "You're on." And with that, he shoved the wheelchair with all his might and began bolting down the hall with it.

"HEY!"

Zack knew he should be feeling some nervousness about what he was doing but he couldn't; not with Freddy whooping and hollering for him to go faster, not with disoriented orderlies and nurses leaping out of their way as they made their frantic dash down the hall. Reaching the elevator, he jammed the button down again and again until the doors opened and then, pushing the wheelchair in, he pressed the button frantically for the doors to close until, the button for the lobby lighting up, they did so.

Silence fell in the elevator other than the sound of the two boys panting for breath through their laughter.

"That was great," Freddy said breathlessly.

"Oh yeah," Zack gasped. "Totally." He flopped back against the wall of the elevator, gasping for breath. Reaching out, Freddy grabbed a handful of Zack's pants, tugging the brunette closer. "Whoa, what?"

"Kiss me." Freddy was still tugging at Zack's pants, trying to pull Zack down to his height. Zack laughed.

"Haven't you had enough of that yet?"

"I will never have enough of you," Freddy answered breathlessly. Zack stared, surprised and pleased. Freddy smiled. "Kiss me," he said softly.

Small smile on his face, Zack complied, leaning over and kissing Freddy gently. Freddy released his death grip on Zack's pants and grabbed the collar of Zack's shirt instead, pulling Zack into him forcefully. Zack laughed against Freddy's mouth.

The elevator made that silly little dinging sound to signify that they had reached the lobby. Zack tried to pull away, but Freddy wasn't letting go. "Freddy," he managed, barely getting the word out around all the kisses Freddy was pressing all over his face. "Freddy, the doors are gonna open and-"

….the doors opened. Zack sighed, prying Freddy's fingers off of his collar. Turning, he saw a group of people all staring. "Um…..hi."

No one seemed sure what to say. Some were smiling, a few were stifling laughter, and some of them looked genuinely bothered. "…..sorry…….just bringing my friend…..uhhh….._Jim-Bob_….umm, yeah…..home from the hospital," he said, jerking one thumb in Freddy's direction.

At the name 'Jim-Bob' Freddy's eyes widened in surprise, and he couldn't help but smile, a large charming grin, and he waved at the crowd as though he were a game show contestant. Several people laughed and some even waved back. Then Freddy stopped and sat silently, grin still in place, hands folded in his lap, waiting to see what Zack would say next.

Zack leaned forwards toward the crowd. "He's a complete nymphomaniac," he stage-whispered loudly. "Hopeless case. He's being brought home and put under house arrest for the rest of his life."

At the word "nymphomaniac," Freddy's eyebrows shot up in apparent interest. Then, he shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'well, fine then.' Putting on the most sensuous and riled up look he could muster, he leaned forwards, wrapping both arms about Zack's waist, one hand slipping beneath Zack's shirt and the other going straight for Zack's groin, blatantly groping the brunette. Zack's eyes widened impossibly huge and he let out a little "meep!" of surprise. The crowd was watching with extreme interest. Zack forced a smile and laughed nervously. "Ummm….yeah. As you can see, he really needs to be under house arrest of the most severe kind." He gently peeled Freddy's hand off of his abdomen and gently (VERY gently) removed Freddy's hand from his groin. "Well….best be going….three hour drive and all that, you know how it is." He quickly wheeled Freddy out of the elevator, the blonde blowing kisses at all the watchers the entire time.

After rounding the corner, Zack swatted the back of Freddy's head. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"

"Didn't I do okay?" Freddy asked, overly innocent look on his face which he knew Zack was _never _going to buy. "I was going for 'Yes, Zack, sex now PLEASE!'"

"Why would you do that?!"

"Hey, YOU'RE the one who said 'nymphomaniac'!" Freddy said defensively. "I was just playing the part!"

Zack sighed. "You're far too horny for your own good, you know that, Jones?"

"Yes indeed."

"Oh." Zack was too taken aback to say anything. "…….okay. So long as you know."

Freddy laughed. "Dork."

"Look who's talking!"

"Oh, give it up, Mooneyham!" Freddy scoffed. "I am the epitome of cool!"

Zack laughed hysterically. "Oh, THERE'S a laugh!"

"Are you saying I'm not cool, Mooneyham?"

"I'm saying you're the epitome of DORK, Jones."

A completely over-dramatic gasp. "I'm INSULTED!"

"Oh, well good, I'm glad you are!"

"You know what, Mooneyham? As soon as I'm back on me feet, I'm gonna-"

"Yeah? Yeah? Gonna what?"

"I'm gonna-"

The playful banter of the two boys was cut short as Zack froze, pulling the wheelchair to a grinding halt. Waiting for them in the hospital lobby were Freddy's parents. Both boys swallowed hard, dreading a conflict. Zack slowly wheeled Freddy over to his parents.

"Why are you going so slowly?" Jason hissed at them as they got closer. "Hurry up! Hurry up!"

Zack started in surprise. "….hurry….up?" he managed.

"What do you THINK I said? HURRY UP!"

Zack, not one to disagree with a frantic and emotional father, hurriedly half ran the wheelchair over. Jason was already motioning wildly.

"Quick, quick! Outside! Hurry! Into the car!"

"I don't…what…." Freddy began, but it didn't matter what he thought….he was just sitting in the wheelchair. Zack was the one responsible for pushing it, so he was the one moving at top speed with it out the front door to the car. Within a matter of minutes, Freddy had been moved to the car, the wheelchair left with an attendant, and the group was driving away. Freddy let out a sigh. "Okay…now what's all this about? Why were we hurrying so much?"

"Do you boys have any idea the amount of ruckus you caused?" Jason asked, not taking his eyes off the road. "We wanted to get you out of there before those doctors caught up and had us there for three more hours, yelling at us about the improper way we'd raised our son….plus I'm sure we'd get blamed for you, Zack, and you're really not our fault."

Zack grinned. "Who are you trying to kid? I spent about the same amount of time with you as I did with my own parents, if not more. You're at least half responsible for the way I turned out!"

There was a pause. Jason turned and looked at his wife. "I'm ashamed."

She tried to suppress a smile, but couldn't. "As well you should be."

"Me?!" he demanded. "What about you?"

"Hey, you can't blame me for this," Eileen insisted. "They get all this from you!"

"Wait," Freddy interrupted. "We're not getting in trouble for this?"

"Well," Jason began thoughtfully. "It probably wasn't the best idea……and you did cause a lot of ruckus….but you didn't break anything, or hurt yourselves or anyone else………………..plus I know I would have done the same thing," he finished, grinning at them from the rearview mirror.

"Hence your full responsibility for the way they turned out!" Eileen said triumphantly. "Things like that!"

"You can HARDLY say that I-"

"I most certainly _can _say that you-"

"Guys?"

The two stopped their playful bickering, full attention on their son. "Yes?" Eileen said.

"Can Zack stay over?"

The car stopped at a red light. There was a long silence. Both parents looked at each other for a long time, silently discussing the pros and cons of the idea without ever saying a word. Jason sighed. "I don't know, Freddy….the last thing you need is your blood pressure to go through the roof."

"DAAAAAAAAAD!" Freddy exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "It WON'T! _GOD!_ We're not going to be screwing!"   
"FREDDY!" Zack looked positively scandalized, but Freddy barreled right on.

"First of all, we are NOT shagging! We never have! Second of all, if we WERE shagging, we wouldn't do it at home! _God_! How tacky do you think we are?"

Jason suppressed a smile. "I don't know, Freddy…that_ is_ a pretty bad shirt."

Freddy was silent for a moment, and he was obviously struggling to act as though he didn't find his father's joke amusing. His lips pursed to hold back a smile and he pointed one accusing finger at his father, completely unable to say a word in response, then continued as if nothing had been said. "Seriously, dad….nothing will happen. I just….I want him here. Please."

Jason glanced back at his son in the rearview mirror. "…..okay." The light changed and the car moved on.

Freddy's entire face lit up. "Really?!"

"Yes. But you two had better-"

"We KNOW, dad."

"I know….I just thought it had to be said." Jason pulled onto their road….within minutes they were home. Freddy insisted that he could take care of himself, but Jason insisted on carrying him inside. Eileen said goodnight downstairs, giving Freddy at least seven kisses, and then Jason brought Freddy to the guest bedroom, because of the bloody state of Freddy's own room. Zack followed, somewhat nervously. As much as he wanted to stay with Freddy, it was still an awkward situation.

Jason gently set Freddy down on the edge of the bed, legs hanging over the side. Freddy began nonchalantly kicking his feet. "Okay……anything I can get for you before I go?" Jason asked.

Freddy looked around the room. "I don't think so….you guys did a pretty good job." His parents had apparently had someone move in a bunch of things for him before he came home. His own pillow was on the bed, a bunch of his old stuffed animals were seated in the rocking chair. His drum set had been moved in, along with the collection of framed photos that had literally covered his desk, preventing any work being done at it (he had always done his homework on the floor of his bedroom or the living room). Most of the photos were of either the School of Rock or of him and Zack. In fact, looking at them, Jason wondered why he hadn't caught on sooner. _I guess no one really expects it with his own child. _

"Yeah," he said aloud. "We had Uncle David come and set stuff up for you."

"Oh yeah? Can I see him soon?"

"Definitely."

"Cool….." They were all silent for a moment. "Okay…..I think I'm good. Thanks, dad."

Jason smiled. "You're welcome." Leaning down, he hugged Freddy and actually kissed him on the cheek, something he hadn't done in forever. "I love you, kid" he said softly. Tears welled up in Freddy's eyes.

"I love you, too," he said, voice thick with tears. Jason pulled away, ruffling Freddy's hair, smile on his face.

"Sleep tight, kid." He waved a hand at Zack. "You too, Zack."

"Night, Jason."

The door shut with a loud click and Zack looked at Freddy, who looked nearly ready to cry again. "….are you…okay?" Zack asked.

Freddy crawled up on the bed, pressing into Zack and embracing him tightly. "Just hold me, Zack," he whispered, curling up beside the brunette. "Can you hold me?"

Zack smiled. "That I can handle." He pulled the covers up over both of them and wrapped protective arms about Freddy. "Sleep," he instructed. "It's been a long day. Well," he reconsidered, thinking on all that had passed since this whole thing began, "a long _five _days, actually."

"It's been a long five _years_," Freddy corrected, voice muffled by Zack's t-shirt and the blanket pulled up to his nose.

"Well…..you're at the tail end of it," Zack said. "You don't have to worry about it anymore. We're going to help you through it now."

"Zack?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Zack laughed. "How many times are you going to say that?"

"Actually, I never intend to stop."

Zack smiled. "Good. Because I love you, too. Now sleep." He gently kissed Freddy's forehead. "Sleep. It'll be better in the morning."

Freddy yawned, his words coming out blurred and sleep-muddled. "……promise?" He was asleep before Zack could respond. Zack silently thanked God for that miracle. He didn't really know if that was a promise he could give.

tbc


	7. Just like wine

**A/N:** Well, here it is, the next chapter, coming in at a whopping 25 pages in Microsoft (27 if you add in this amazingly long note and all the other crapola). Not as long as the last one, but yeah, considering this one is mainly comprised of makeout scenes, pretty impressive, I think. And that was such a Yoda statement to make. Put the subject before the verb do you, fail this class you shall. Ahem. Anyway, moving merrily along...

**DISCLAIMER:** I still own no part of this movie or any of the characters or actors or anything. I also do not own the Lord of the Rings, which is mentioned in here, nor do I own the other book which I used quotes from. I refuse to say what book it is; whoever figures out what book the quotes come from WITHOUT LOOKING THEM UP gets the prize. No clue what that prize is, but you get it. This is also a good way of seeing who actually reads my damn author notes.

**CLAIMER:** I still own Freddy's parents and his mom's fab cooking skills & the breakfast she made. I'd say I own his house, but I realized today that I've based nearly everything about his house on the house of my best friend Mel, who I've known since I was five and she was three, so it all sorta belongs to her. Even the bathtub, which I love. She has this old Victorian marble tub with the high back and the little feet and GOD do I love that tub. Anyway, yeah, that's it, really.

**DEDICATIONS: **

**Do a Reviewing Dance**- I have no clue what your real name is, since you weren't signed in, but your review made me quite happy. Yeah, it was a bit of a writers block thing. I had the same scene written twice in this and the next chapter and I didn't want to do that, so I had to figure out how to mesh the two scenes; that's what took so long.

**findingEMO**- I say "awesome" too much, too. Love your name, by the by, and I'm glad you liked the wheelchair part...it came across better in my mind, I was kinda disappointed to the way it transferred to paper. So I'm glad you like it.

**Chinsky**- you always leave such amazing reviews, and your last one was probably the best ever. One of the best reviews I've ever gotten, no joke. Thanks so much!

**Madison**- hope I made your day w/ the little email notification! Enjoy!

More dedications to come in the future, I have a long list of people who'll be getting deds soon. I'd do 'em all now, but it'd take up too much room. In the meantime, some brief shout outs to **YaoiBunny**, hopelesslydevoted12, **SweetTweet00**, and **driven to insanity**...I still owe you all some deds, which I swear I'll get to. Sorry, I promise I WILL do it!

**FICLET!**

* * *

Freddy opened bleary eyes. His body felt dead, as though he couldn't move. Then he felt the aching of his wrists and figured out why as yesterday came back in a flash. _I guess its only natural to feel tired…I probably lost a lot of blood. _Then he realized that part of the heaviness of his body was due to the other body that was half sprawled across his.

Zack was sleeping in the most awkward position ever, half draped over Freddy's chest, lying horizontally across the bed, head resting on Freddy's stomach, fingers clenched in the blonde's shirt. His long hair was a mess, still thick with potatoes. Freddy shook his head, suppressing a grin. _Dork. _He lightly brushed some of the food out of Zack's hair, trying hard not to wake the sleeping brunette, but no such luck.

Zack yawned and stretched like a cat, arching his back, then curled up closer to Freddy, who laughed. "Good morning, sleepy head."

Zack slitted one eye open and peered up at Freddy. "……Freddy?"

"Um, yeah….who'd you expect?"

"…….you're awake before me?"

"I know, shocking, huh?" Freddy continued brushing food out of Zack's hair.

"What're you doing?" Zack asked sleepily, rubbing at his eyes.

"Getting the potatoes out of your hair, dear."

That seemed to finally wake Zack up. He sat up like a shot, hands flying to his hair. "OH NO! I totally forgot!"

Freddy grinned. "Obviously." Zack continued messing with his hair, trying to get the food out and totally failing. "Here…let me get it." Freddy reached over and grabbed his brush off his bedside table. "Come on."

Zack reluctantly scooted back over and sat in front of Freddy. The blonde began gently brushing out the long dark hair, very carefully combing out all the snarls and tossing all of the disgusting hardened potatoes into the trashcan beside his bed. Finally he got all the food out but he didn't tell Zack this, merely continued brushing the long dark hair.

"You have the nicest hair in the whole world," he murmured.

"I do not," Zack insisted. Freddy laughed.

"How does even that small compliment make you blush?" he asked.

"How do YOU know I'm blushing?"

"…..the back of your neck is bright red, Mooneyham."

That made Zack blush even more, the back of his neck flushing even redder. "Shut up."

"Then YOU just shut up and take the damn compliment. Your hair is gorgeous." Freddy allowed his free hand to wander, brushing the hair out of Zack's eyes and then back, running his fingers lightly along Zack's scalp. Zack sighed, leaning into Freddy. Freddy pressed a kiss to his temple. "Can I wash your hair?" he asked.

"Sure," Zack murmured. "But won't your parents mind?"

"Pffft, who cares?" Freddy replied. Zack chuckled, pressing closer to Freddy.

"I guess as long as we're not showering together or anything they won't mind," Zack pondered aloud. Freddy snorted.

"What's the fun in that?"

Zack laughed. "Honestly, Freddy, you're such a perv!"

"Yeah? What's this, the pot calling the kettle black? Which one do you want to be, the pot or the kettle?"

"Hey!" Zack protested, laughing. "I'm neither! You're the only pervert here!"

"Pfft," Freddy scoffed, "I can't be both the pot AND the kettle! You have to choose one." He nipped teasingly at Zack's ear.

"Nope, I won't choose." Zack's back arched at the sensations of Freddy's close contact and those teasing little nips.

"Oh yeah?" It became much worse as Freddy began tickling Zack even as he continued nibbling on Zack's ear. Zack began to squirm like a mad thing, trying to escape Freddy's prodding fingers without stopping those lovely little nips.

"Freddy….Freddy, stop….FREDDY!" He giggled madly and, unable to fight anymore, collapsed back into Freddy's lap.

"Oh? And just what is Freddy doing that he has to stop?" came the voice of one very amused Jason Jones. Freddy glanced up just in time to see his father enter the room. Jason jumped back, making a big pretense out of shielding his eyes. Zack opened his eyes, a majorly delayed reaction due to his current breathless state.

"Oh, GOD, boys, can't you keep it in your pants for five minutes!"

Freddy laughed. "Nice try, dad…haven't you ever heard of 'tickling'?" Zack struggled to sit up, finding it incredibly difficult from his position in Freddy's lap.

Jason grinned. "Oh, so THAT'S what they're calling it these days!"

Freddy let out a long-suffering sigh. "Did you have a point in coming in here, dad? Or was it just to be a pain in the ass?"

Jason laughed. "Yes, I had a point. Your mother and I are going out to run a few errands. We should be back in about an hour and a half…there's crepes in the fridge for you."

"CREPES?" Freddy practically bellowed. It was a very rare thing for his mother to actually make crepes, but they were his absolute favorite. "Strawberry crepes?"

"Of course."

"With blueberry sauce?"

"You betcha."

Freddy rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Exxxxcellant."

"So you'll be okay until we get back?"

"Sure."

"Okay, then. See you in about….oh, let's say two hours, just to be safe."

"Okay, dad….bye!"

"Bye, Jason," Zack said, finally able to catch his breath. Jason smiled.

"Bye, boys…enjoy your breakfast." With a conspiratorial wink, he left the room. Moments later they heard the sound of the car pulling out of the driveway. Freddy slowly turned and regarded Zack with an evil grin. It took Zack a minute to turn his attention to Freddy, but when he did and saw the malicious smirk on Freddy's face, he jumped, taken aback.

"Whaaaat?" he asked self-consciously. Freddy's grin widened even more. Zack swallowed hard. "Freddy," he began, "I don't like that look in your eyes, Freddy." He crawled backwards towards the head of the bed. Freddy turned over and crawled slowly on all fours towards Zack.

"You…and I…are alone….for two hours….in the house…..with a shower…..strawberries…..whipped cream….and blueberry sauce…" By this time he reached Zack, who found himself back against the wall and nowhere to go. Freddy pounced without warning, pinning Zack to the bed. From his new position, mattress soft against his back, Zack stared up at Freddy with wide eyes. Freddy smiled. "Just think of all the fun we can have."

Zack couldn't help but mirror the smile. "Perv."

"Oh, you KNOW you want me naked with whipped cream and blueberry sauce," Freddy said, kissing Zack. Zack laughed.

"Well," he murmured, "now that you mention it, that does sound more appetizing than crepes…" He grabbed a handful of blonde hair and tugged hard, pulling Freddy down on top of him, bodies pressed together and limbs tangled as they kissed.

"Mmm," Freddy hummed, pulling back, hand beneath Zack's shirt and fingers tracing patterns over bare skin. "I'd say wash up first, but I think we're just going to get messier after the crepes..."

Zack chuckled. "Horny git."

"You know it," Freddy murmured. "So breakfast...and then a bath."

"Okay," Zack agreed. "Then I can get the rest of this shit out of my hair."

"……oh," Freddy said, "I was just using that as an excuse to see you naked."

Zack burst out laughing. "You are such a PERV, Freddy!"

"Hah, call me what you like, as long as you'll let me wash your hair….deal?" Freddy asked, fingers tracing across Zack's face.

Zack smiled. "Deal." And he sealed the bargain with a kiss.

* * *

Freddy walked into the kitchen, silent on fuzzy pink slippered feet. Zack, on the other hand, winced as cold tile connected with sensitive bare skin. It was hard to be bothered, though, watching Freddy shuffling along in those slippers. Zack shook his head in amusement. Who would have thought that the world's most punk-ass drummer would wear fuzzy pink slippers?

Freddy pulled the refrigerator open with so much force that the bottles and jars in the doorway clanked loudly together. "Oops." He shoved his head in the fridge, bent fully in half as he poked about, looking for...something. Zack didn't much care. His entire train of thought cut off right when Freddy bent over, and his gaze was now fixed firmly on Freddy's rather nice backside. _God...so...completely...sexy._Zack's fingers itched to move. _Want...to...touch..._

Freddy, meanwhile, was completely oblivious, head still stuck in the fridge as he moved contents around, searching for the whipped cream that he knew was in there somewhere. Finally, shoving a Tupperware container full of leftover chicken parm to one side, he spotted it. "AHA! THERE you are!" He grabbed it, barely managing to balance it with everything else he was already holding. "Zack, I..." He never got to finish the sentence. Zack's hand had suddenly relocated itself into a new position on Freddy's ass. "HELL-O!" Freddy exclaimed, jumping nearly a foot in surprise. The whipped cream flew off the pile of food he was holding and crashed to the floor, rolling until it hit the wall. Freddy cast a surprised, curious, and yet oddly pleased sort of look at Zack. "What the heck was that?"

Zack shrugged. "You have an extremely nice bum."

Freddy laughed, walking over to the table and setting all the food down. "Which you randomly felt the need to fondle in the middle of my kitchen?"

"Yes," Zack answered, crossing the room and picking up the whipped cream before returning. Giving the can a good shake, he squirted a line of whipped cream along his index finger and licked it off. Zack smiled inwardly; it had been a long time since he had real whipped cream. His parents didn't really believe in junk food, so it was rarely in the house. He repeated the maneuver, more whipped cream this time. It took him a few minutes to realize Freddy was staring at him, too preoccupied was he with what he was doing. He looked up, finger nearly all the way in his mouth, and saw the blonde staring at him, far more flushed than usual and that _look_ in his eyes...and realized that he himself, Zack Mooneyham, was fully responsible for it. He would have had the most evil smirk on his face, but it would have ruined the effect. Instead, he slowly drew his finger from his mouth, languidly sucking all the whipped cream off, eyes never once leaving Freddy's face. The blonde looked as though he was about to have an epileptic fit. Zack opened his mouth, about to make a snide remark, but suddenly found himself being rapidly relocated. Freddy's hands clenched in the collar of Zack's shirt and with one swift motion, he spun Zack about and practically tossed the brunette onto the kitchen table, plates skidding out of the way.

Zack winced as his back hit the hard wood of the table; the poor can of whipped cream slipped through his surprised fingers and clattered to the table beside him, but he didn't have long to think about it. Freddy clambered up on the table, tossing one leg over Zack's waist and sitting himself right on the brunette's stomach, straddling Zack's hips, one hand going to each of Zack's wrists and effectively pinning the poor guitarist to the table. Freddy leaned forwards, blonde hair hanging into his eyes, about two inches from Zack's face. "Since when did you become an expert at seduction?" he demanded.

Zack laughed breathlessly. "I don't know...I guess it's just a natural talent."

"S'gotta be," Freddy managed, still barely able to breathe himself. "Fuck...FUCK, that was hot, Zack!"

Zack laughed again. "You know what else is hot?"

"Hmm..." Freddy pretended to ponder it. "...your mom?"

Zack let out an undistinguishable noise of indignant rage (though the anger wasn't real, of course) and shoved Freddy hard, pushing the blonde off of him and reversing their positions, pinning a laughing Freddy to the table. "Bastard!"

Freddy laughed even harder. "Come on, Zack, you know it's true!"

"EWWW, that's DISGUSTING!"

"She's one foxy lady!"

"Shut UP!" Zack said, laughing himself.  
"You know I'm right, you mom is so..." Freddy didn't get to finish. Zack grabbed the abandoned can of whipped cream and squirted it into Freddy's mouth and all over the blonde's face. Freddy swallowed, coughed, and blinked up at the brunette through eyes covered in cream. "God, Zack, you trying to kill me here or what?"

"Oh yes...death by whipped cream," Zack said dryly. "That was totally my nefarious scheme."

"Well, you nearly fucking blinded me, anyway," Freddy shot back, struggling to free his wrists. "Can you at least let me wipe the stuff out of my eyes?"

"Nope." Zack managed to switch his grip on Freddy's wrists so that he was holding both wrists down with one hand, and gently wiped the cream out of Freddy's eyes. "Better, dear?"

"Better." Freddy shifted underneath Zack, still trying to free his hands. "Except the rest is going to dry and my face'll be all sticky."

Zack smiled. "That's what _you _think."

"Oh yeah? Why? What are you plotting in that evil little head of yours?"

Zack didn't answer. He leaned forwards, eyes sliding shut, and slowly dragged his tongue across Freddy's face, licking up all the whipped cream. Zack opened his eyes and came face to face with a surprised but pleased Freddy, less than an inch away. Zack smiled, the tiniest curving of his lips, and then closed the final distance, kissing Freddy gently. Freddy pressed upwards into Zack, a small, hungry sound escaping his throat as he nipped at Zack's lip. Zack pulled away gently, and released Freddy's wrists. "Shirt, off, now."

Freddy peered up at Zack, a vaguely amused look on his face. "Feeling a bit neanderthalic, Zack?" he asked, but he propped himself up just enough to tug his shirt up and off, tossing it to one side. "There," he panted, hair now a tousled mess. "...better?"

Zack's only response was to kiss Freddy again, fingers splayed possessively across the blonde's chest. Freddy, never breaking the kiss, reached to his right and fumbled for one of the dishes, managing with some difficulty to dip his fingers into the bowl of strawberries and coming away with a goopy handful. Without warning, he shoved the entire handful of strawberries into Zack's face. The kiss ended abruptly, Zack pulling free with a startled yelp. Freddy watched, wide grin on his face, as Zack sputtered and coughed, strawberry juice running down his face. Finally, he fixed his gaze steadfastly on Freddy. "That," he began clearly, "is fighting dirty, Jones." He was suddenly pinning Freddy's wrists down again, this time with one hand. "I may just have to retaliate."

Freddy tried to stifle a grin, but he was sure he failed miserably. "By all means, Mooneyham." He barely got the sentence out before a handful of blueberries hit him smack in the eye, spattering across his face and leaving him pretty much blind...again. He squinted his eyes tightly shut and made a show of coughing, hacking, and loudly smacking his lips. "Peh...geez, Zack, the eyes?"

"No worse than you did to me," Zack responded, somewhat absentminded as he grabbed another handful of blueberries and smeared it down Freddy's recently bared chest. He straddled Freddy's hips, seating himself firmly down as he continued painting, purple berry juice on pale soft skin. He traced a circle about Freddy's navel and then continued down, fingers slowing to a halt as they reached the very loose drawstring of Freddy's pants.

Very slowly, Zack lifted dark eyes, following the path he had drawn up Freddy's chest. His grip on Freddy's wrists finally releasing, he very gently wiped the blueberry out of Freddy's eyes. Two pairs of dark eyes locked; Zack stared down at Freddy, breath coming very quickly. His trembling fingers, still coated in blueberry sauce, traced lightly across Freddy's parted lips. Freddy kissed them, then took Zack's hand in his own and gently tugged it closer, kissing it more freely. Slowly, he ran his tongue across the palm of Zack's hand, eyes still firmly locked on Zack as if to make sure this was okay.

...Zack could barely breathe, and he wasn't about to make any sort of protest. "Freddy..." he managed, no more than the softest of harsh whispers. Freddy repeated the move down Zack's index finger, licking off all the blueberry sauce in much the same way Zack had done the whipped cream earlier. This led very obviously to the next step (or so Freddy saw it), and he took Zack's finger into his mouth, gently sucking the last traces of sauce off and then moving on to the next finger and repeating the process.

Zack felt as if his brain had melted, for it sure wasn't doing him any good at the moment. All he could think of was what Freddy was doing, and that wasn't so much thinking as it was a pure explosion of feeling substantial enough to rival any fireworks show. "_Freddy_!"

Freddy didn't respond, didn't even show any sign that he'd heard, merely continued what he was doing. If anything, he put more into it, tongue tracing briefly down each finger before taking it into his mouth, then afterwards, delving into each crevice between the fingers, taking his time about it and doing a painstakingly thorough job. He released the last finger very slowly, sucking languidly at it before allowing it to slip free, then raising his gaze to meet Zack's. Zack felt astonished to see the dazed heat in Freddy's eyes, to feel the blonde trembling beneath him; he hadn't even thought this might be affecting Freddy much the same way as it was him. He was struck suddenly with the knowledge of everything Freddy had done for him in the past few days and with an overwhelming desire to make it up to him, even though he knew Freddy wasn't expecting any sort of payback for this; he did it all out of pure love. And that affected Zack even more.

Freddy's eyes widened in surprise because Zack was suddenly and passionately kissing him, much more forcefully than before, but not rough; there was still that aspect of gentleness to it that made it completely Zack and Freddy would have smiled, had his mouth not been otherwise engaged. Then Zack's tongue brushed roughly against his, such a soft and yet forceful caress that Freddy's head tipped back against the hard wood table and he moaned into Zack's mouth. Zack pulled roughly free, teeth tugging gently at Freddy's lip, just hard enough to hurt while still feeling oh-so fucking _good_. Then he was off, lips working their way to the smooth expanse of throat and down, tongue tracing along the harsh-jutting collar bone, teeth nipping at the soft flesh there. That skillful tongue continued its way down, drinking up the blueberry juice as it went, and Freddy thought he had lost all ability to speak anything but the name of this ebony haired angel of torment who was so cleverly torturing the ever-loving hell out of him. For that's all that he could get past his flushed lips, that single name like a mantra. "Zack," he managed, not even realizing how much he was repeating the name. "_Zack_..."

Zack kept moving down, thumbs tracing ever-changing patterns down Freddy's stomach, just where he knew the blonde was most ticklish. The sensuous and teasing sensations mixed together drove Freddy past the breaking point and back into more coherent speech. "_FUCK,_ Zack!" ..._slightly_ more coherent.

He felt guitar callused hands on him and couldn't bite back the shaky moan. Still he somehow managed to find words, though how he succeeded in propping himself up on his elbows he would never know. "Zack," he managed, barely able to get a breath in to continue.

Zack smiled. "Silly boy," he said softly, leaning forward to press a kiss to Freddy's temple, close enough for Freddy to smell the heady scent of Zack's cologne mixed with the tantalizing scent of fresh strawberries and the musky smoothness of pure sex. "...relax."

And then there was one final stroke of mellifluous-rough fingers before they vanished, replaced by lips as yet unscarred by abusive kisses, lips who knew nothing more then the tenderly rough kisses Freddy had lavished upon them. Freddy bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, eyes squeezing tightly shut and head falling back to the table with a harsh thunk. He somehow managed to remain propped up on his elbows, back arching at the teasing sensation of Zack's soft lips against the bare and sensitive skin of his stomach.

Zack let his hands travel up Freddy's arched back, blunt fingernails digging into the soft flesh, feeling all the muscles in Freddy's back contract as he dragged his hands downward, cutting thin harsh tracks down the smooth flesh. Freddy cried out in a mix of pleasure and pain, unable to even form words anymore.

Freddy's skin had a tantalizing taste that Zack couldn't quite put his finger on. Part of it was the blueberries, of course, but it was newer than that, fresher somehow. There was an air of calm about it, like a thick blue cloud of soft repose, but with a sharp thin current of electricity running jaggedly through the middle of it. The feeling of a calm before a storm. Rain, he realized. Freddy tasted of rain. That fresh clean feeling of new beginnings that were still older than time or space.

"And sometimes," he began, lips brushing against the taut skin of Freddy's stomach as he whispered, "I like to put my head back like this, and let the rain fall in my mouth."

"Huh?" Freddy managed, one eyebrow arching in puzzlement.

"It tastes just like wine," Zack continued.

"...Zack," Freddy began, small smile beginning to form.

"Have you ever tried it?" Zack interrupted, a smile beginning to form on his own face.

Freddy couldn't suppress the smile flooding his face. "You'd better run along to your appointment," he shot back. Zack laughed.

"I thought you might recognize that," he said.

"Pffft, of course I would. S'only my favorite book ever."

"What about Lord of the Rings?"

"...okay, one of my favorites, then."

Zack laughed, pressing another kiss to Freddy's belly. Freddy ran his fingers through Zack's hair.

"What made you think of that right now?" he asked, curious.

"You," Zack replied in between kisses. "You taste like rain."

"Oh, do I?" Freddy replied, obviously thinking it was a joke.

"Yes," Zack murmured, "you do. In all honesty, you do."

"Hmm...does that mean you find me...intoxicating?" Zack gave a sharp pat to the side of Freddy's face. "OW!"

"The bad pun was not at all necessary," Zack frowned up at Freddy. "I was being completely serious."

"Oh." Freddy gave an abashed smile and a slight shrug of the shoulders. "...sorry?"

"Bet you are."

"Oh, I totally am." He glanced at the clock. "Anyway, we'd probably better actually have some breakfast and get cleaned up; we only have about 45 minutes till my parents get home."

"Okay." Zack slid off of Freddy and, carefully tip-toeing around the fruit and whipped cream that littered the floor, managed to seat himself at the table. Freddy sat up and crawled across the table towards the chair Zack had chosen and slid easily into an Indian style position right there on the table. Zack sighed. "Where're your manners?"

"Don't have none," Freddy grinned and slid the plate of crepes over to Zack. "Dig in, monsieur."

Surprisingly enough, breakfast finished with no further "occurrences." Freddy let out a sigh of full contentment and flopped back, sprawling on the table. "THAT...was good."

"You're telling me," Zack managed, leaning back in his chair. "Your mom is amazing in the kitchen."

"Don't I know it."

Zack looked over his shoulder, craning his neck to read the clock. "We have to get going, though; we're running a bit late, now. Tell you what, why don't you go get things ready upstairs and I'll clean up the kitchen?"

"You sure, Zack?"

"Totally sure."

Freddy grinned. "Awesome. Thanks. See you upstairs in a few!" He slid off the table and was nearly out the door before Zack spoke up.

"Oh, and Freddy?"

Freddy paused in the doorway, sliding a bit on his fuzzy slippered feet and having to catch the doorframe to avoid falling. He turned back. "...yeah?"

Zack grinned. "Yes, I _do_ find you intoxicating."

Freddy smiled a smug little smile. "Pffft, like there was ever any doubt about _that_." Tossing a wink at the dark haired guitarist, he spun about and ran from the room, leaving Zack alone in a room strewn with fruit, his laughter echoing through the entire house.

* * *

Zack stepped cautiously into the bathroom. "Freddy?" What greeted him was a room full of steam and no hyperactive blonde drummer anywhere. He sighed. "Freddy?"

Hands on his back suddenly, grabbing his shirt and pulling it up. "GAH!" The shirt was tugged over his head and off, deposited to the floor. Spinning about, he came face to face with one very smiley and very shirtless Freddy. "You dork! Warn me before you do a thing like that! You scared the bejeezus out of me!"

"Pfft, how surprised could you be?" Freddy scoffed. "There's no one else in the house, and even if there were, there's no one else who would randomly strip you like that!"

"Hah, that's where you're _wrong_, Jones."

Freddy arched an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? And just who else in my home do you think would actually want to see your scrawny butt naked?"

Zack rolled his eyes. "Come ON, Freddy! Your mom is so totally hot for me!"

With an indignant yelp, Freddy gave Zack a shove. The brunette went flying backwards, falling right into the tub, which was luckily (or perhaps unluckily) for him filled to the brim with boiling hot water. He hit the water with a terrific splash, soaking both him and Freddy. Moments later, he resurfaced, sputtering. The blonde laughed. "You look like a drowned rat, Mooneyham."

Zack sputtered even more, hair dripping into his eyes. Brushing the wet hair out of his eyes, he came face to face with Freddy. "Dork," he said, shaking his head at Freddy.

"Look who's all wet, Mooneyham," the blonde retorted. Walking over to the tub, he kicked off his slippers.

"What're you doing?" Zack asked curiously. Still wearing his baggy pajama pants, Freddy climbed into the tub, smile on his face.

"Getting in," he said. He stretched out, half crawling half floating over to Zack's end, arms going round the brunette. "Mmm," he sighed contentedly, pressing close to Zack, head resting on Zack's bare chest. "I love baths."

"Baths with me in them or just baths in general?" Zack teased. Freddy laughed.

"Just baths," he murmured, "though they're most definitely improved when you're involved." His fingers traced down Zack's stomach, halting when they reached the waistband of Zack's pants. "Though less clothing would definitely be nice."

"But then there wouldn't be a bath," Zack pointed out. "Just sex."

Freddy laughed. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Zack asked, pressing kisses down Freddy's neck and shoulders.

"You sooo want to have sex with me."

Zack sighed. "Later, Freddy, later….possibly much much later."

Freddy laughed softly. "I know," he said. "I'm just teasing." His fingers stopped their worrying along the waistband of Zack's pants and traced slowly along Zack's chest and up until they were running through his hair. "Let me wash your hair."

"Said I would, didn't I?"

"Switch," Freddy said.

"Switch?"

"Switch spots…..if I'm washing your hair I have to be behind you."

"Oh…" It took a bit of maneuvering (not good in the close quarters of the tub, where every movement only pressed the two boys closer together, creating teasing friction in the too-warm water). By the time the places had been switched, Zack was almost wishing he hadn't turned down Freddy's offer of sex….almost.

Freddy hissed as he settled fully down into the water. "What is it?" Zack asked, alarmed.

Freddy shook his head. "It's nothing," he managed, but his back was unusually straight and stiff.

"It is not nothing," Zack growled. He grabbed Freddy's shoulder and tugged roughly, twisting the blonde so he could get a good look at his back. Trailing down Freddy's skin were ten long, thin cuts, tracing from his shoulders all the way down his back; ten rivulets of blood staining the water crimson. He realized with shock that the cuts were from him, given while he was...he brushed the thought aside, comprehending Freddy's discomfort as he realized how hot the water was. _That must burn like all get-out. _"God, I'm so sorry, Freddy."

"Don't be," Freddy said, smiling at him. "I can stand a little pain. Hell, I'd rather have it than not."

"Okay," Zack said dubiously. Freddy's smile widened.

"Masochist, Zack, remember?"

Zack laughed. "Yeah...I keep forgetting that." He released Freddy's shoulder and the blonde settled back against the high marble back of the tub.

"Come on," he said, beckoning. "Sit back and let me wash your damn hair."

Seconds later, Zack thought he was in heaven. Freddy was apparently good at more than drumming and making out; he also seemed to have a bit of massage therapy under his belt. Soapy hands running through Zack's long hair, teasing along the brunette's scalp, working in gentle massaging motions that felt so good Zack thought he would pass out from an overdose of pure sensation.

"Mmmm, Freddy," he moaned, head tilting back. "Good thing you didn't ask me to have sex with you now."

"…..why's that?" Freddy asked distractedly, too focused on worshipping every strand of soft brown hair. Reaching over the side of the tub, he picked up the pitcher he had brought into the bathroom that day for this very purpose. Filling it with hot water from the tub, he gently poured water over Zack's hair to rinse out all the shampoo, very careful not to get any in the brunette's eyes. "Why's that?" he repeated, paying more attention now.

"Cause I totally would have said yes," Zack murmured, not even fully aware what he was saying but somehow knowing it to be true. There was a slight hitch as Freddy paused.

"………………………..um………" He paused again, contemplating. A slightly hopeful, mainly evil sort of grin. "…..wanna have sex?"

Zack bit back a moan, turning to face Freddy. "Do not even tempt me, Jones, do not tempt me." He kissed Freddy, nipping roughly at Freddy's lip and eliciting a gasp from the blonde. "I am this close to saying yes," Zack said breathlessly, hips rubbing against Freddy's. "Stop me."

Barely able to breathe, Freddy paused, caught in a dilemma. He wanted Zack more than anything, but he also knew that even though Zack may want sex now, he would most definitely regret it later. "Okay," he said softly. "Okay. I take it back."

"…..really?" Zack was surprised.

Biting his lip, Freddy nodded. "I don't want you to do something you'll regret later."

Zack stared, his eyes wide and surprised. Then he leaned forward and kissed Freddy. "That makes me want to have sex with you even more," he whispered, "that you'd do that for me."

Freddy laughed, but his heart was pounding. "No sex for you, Mooneyham, you deviant! Not today, anyway. Now behave yourself!"

Zack only kissed him again, hands moving to the catches on Freddy's pants. "Why? Why do I have to behave myself?" he whispered. Freddy tried hard to take a deep breath and found he couldn't breathe at all.

"Zack…" he managed. Then Zack's hands were down his pants and all progress he had made towards being able to breathe vanished completely. "FUCK."

"Yeah? I thought you said not today," Zack teased. Freddy bit back a moan, trying to get some semblance of rational thought into his brain before he just utterly lost and took complete advantage of Zack. He firmly removed Zack's hands from his pants. The brunette looked at him in confusion.

"Zack….Zack? Zack, you know I love you and this is so incredibly beyond hot, but you gotta stop now because you are making it so incredibly difficult for me to stop myself from just fucking you right now."

Zack stared at him. "…..but I want you to."

Freddy clenched his eyes shut tight and took a deep breath. "NO, no you don't, Zack. You want it but you want it to be sometime and some place where it'll have some real meaning to it. You don't want it here, you don't want it now, you don't want it to be meaningless sex. And I don't want that either. Because I know what meaningless sex is like and I don't want that from you. I love you, Zack, and no matter how much I may want to have sex with you, when it happens I want it to be special."

Zack stared at Freddy, looking shocked and so incredibly touched. Leaning forward, he kissed Freddy. "Thank you," he whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Freddy said, his breath coming more naturally now. "Now….maybe…we should get out of this bathtub….and get some clothes on."

"Okay," Zack agreed, hands still running through Freddy's hair. He was staring at the blonde in wonder as though he'd never seen him before.

"…what?" Freddy asked self-consciously.

"I just….I can't believe you did that for me," Zack said wondrously. "I can't believe you'd…" he trailed off. "….save me like that."

Freddy laughed. "That's me, your bonafide knight in shining armor." Zack laughed with him.

"Yeah, you really fucking are."

Freddy smiled. "Come on….let's get out of these wet clothes and go get dressed." He rose to his feet with some difficulty due to the sopping wet pants, then offered a hand to Zack, pulling the brunette up as well. Freddy undid his pants.

"What're you doing?"

"No point in getting the floor all wet, is there?" Freddy responded. Without a hint of embarrassment, he slid both pants and boxers off, wet material sliding easily against slippery skin. Zack stared. Technically Freddy had seen him naked before due to their little liaison the other night…but he hadn't seen Freddy naked. Now, so blatantly greeted with the rather delectable sight of Freddy completely naked, he couldn't help but stare appreciatively.

Freddy glanced at Zack with some amusement. "….you looking for something Mooneyham, or are you just looking?"

Zack didn't blush, refused to blush. Technically they were dating now, and blatantly checking out his boyfriend's….umm…."package"…was nothing at all to be ashamed of. "Just looking, I guess."

Freddy grinned. "Yeah? See anything you like?"

Zack decided he was going to have some fun messing with Freddy's head. He was going to make the unflusterable Freddy Jones blush. Slowly, he allowed his gaze to settle on Freddy's groin, staring for a good few minutes, staring until Freddy squirmed awkwardly under the attention. "….well?" the blonde demanded at last.

Zack lifted his gaze, looking Freddy in the eye, then slowly shook his head. "Nope."

Freddy's blush faded as quickly as it had come. "WHAT!" He laughed aloud. "Oh, that's a laugh, Zack, that's why you desperately wanted me to fuck you five minutes ago!"

Zack flushed now, shaking his head at the memory. "Thank God you saved me."

Freddy grinned. "Well, I AM your knight in shining armor, after all."

"So…as my knight in shining armor, what exactly is your job?" Zack asked, undoing his own pants.

"….why….saving you from doing perverse sexual acts which you would regret in the morning, of course!" Freddy said, as though it should be obvious. Zack cringed, dropping his pants, an action which did not at all go unnoticed by Freddy.

"God," Zack winced, stepping out of the bathtub and taking the towel offered by Freddy. "Why did I act like that? What made me such a horny little fuck?"

"WELL," Freddy began, sly grin on his face, "no one can really blame you. After all, most people would react the same way if they had a go at a body like mine!"

Zack laughed. "Oh yeah, Freddy, you're so foxy!"

"Pfft, YEAH I am."

Zack finished toweling off and swatted Freddy's bare backside with the wet towel. "Stuck up git."

"OW!" Freddy jumped at the stinging wet towel hitting his rear end. "That really fucking hurts, Mooneyham!"

"Aww, I thought you liked pain!" Zack teased. Freddy rubbed his ass.

"Well, I do….but I'm more into the kind of pain which involves your teeth on my throat."

"Hmmm…..like this?" And Zack nipped harshly at Freddy's throat. Freddy sighed, relaxing back into Zack, who wrapped his arms about the blonde.

"Mmm….yeah." Freddy's eyes slid shut as he just gave into feeling the stinging pain of Zack's teeth on his skin, a sharp contrast to the softness of the brunette's lips brushing gently against his throat. "God," he murmured. "Never stop doing that."

Zack chuckled. "I think that could get a little awkward, Frederick."

"Oh, you think so, Zackary?" Freddy asked somewhat sarcastically. He shook his head. "I don't care. Awkwardness I can deal with."

"Oh, indeed? Like the awkwardness there'll be if your parents come home and find us stark naked and dripping wet?"

"………………………yes," Freddy said at last, and very decisively. Zack waited for more, but when nothing else came, he laughed.

"Yes what?"

"Yes….I can deal with that awkwardness."

"Really? Too bad. I don't think I'm ready for that level of awkwardness yet," Zack said, tying a towel about his waist. Going into the closet, he pulled out another towel and wrapped it about Freddy's waist, tying it securely.

"Awkwardness I can live with," Freddy continued as Zack knotted the towel. "You, on the other hand…you I cannot live without."

Zack froze, looking up at Freddy with wide eyes. Freddy smiled softly back at him. "Thank you," Zack whispered, unable to speak any louder.

"You're welcome," Freddy replied. "I meant it."

Zack nodded, a swift jerky movement. "I know…..I…." He took a slow, ragged breath, dark eyes still locked on Freddy's. "….I feel the same way."

Freddy nodded. "I know." There was a long silence. The situation had become slightly awkward, though in a good way. Freddy chuckled inwardly; he had never realized there was a good kind of awkward. But then again, he had never been in this situation before: confessing absolute love to someone who immediately gave it right back. He took a deep breath, then let it out in a long sigh. "Well..." his eyes locked with Zack's and he shrugged. "...Playstation?"

tbc


End file.
